On February 11, 2026, the Munich Regional Division of the Unified Patent Court (UPC) ruled in the patent infringement dispute between Philips and Belkin: Belkin's products infringe Philips' standard-essential patent (EP 2 867 997 B1). The court ordered Belkin and related entities to comply with injunctions, pay damages, and disclose information across multiple UPC member states. This marks the first bench ruling issued by the UPC in a main proceedings case since its establishment.

The case stems from a long-standing patent dispute between Philips and Belkin concerning wireless charging technology. Philips holds EP 2 867 997 B1, which has been declared part of the “Qi wireless charging standard.” The “Qi” standard is a globally recognized wireless power transfer specification developed by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC). Primarily based on electromagnetic induction principles, it enables mobile devices such as smartphones and wearables to interact with charging bases for cable-free power transfer. Currently, this standard represents the most widely adopted wireless charging technology specification in the global mobile electronics sector.

In this ruling, the court determined that Belkin's Qi-compatible chargers fall within the scope of protection of the claims in the involved patent. Regarding Belkin's defense that its product only possesses an “accept” function without an ‘reject’ function, the court held that the claim emphasizes the technical function and logical implementation of the communication step, not whether both options are formally present simultaneously. Therefore, even if the device only performs the “accept” operation during actual operation, it still covers the communication mechanism described in the claim in terms of technical effect, constituting infringement.