On March 27, the 21st Civil Chamber of the Munich Regional Court issued a ruling granting an injunction to Innovative Sonic Corporation (hereinafter “ISC”), an affiliate of ASUS, regarding 5G multi-mode standard-essential patents (SEPs) against OPPO and its affiliate OnePlus.

The Munich Regional Court, First Instance, found that OPPO and its affiliate OnePlus infringed on ISC’s EP2802185 patent (“Method and Apparatus for Adding Service Cells in a Wireless Communication System”), which covers multi-mode dual-connectivity technology and qualifies as a 5G standard essential patent. Based on this finding, the court issued an injunction prohibiting the sale of the infringing devices in the German market.

The ruling is provisionally enforceable during the appeal period, with the required security deposit amounting to nearly seven figures in euros. It is reported that OPPO raised a FRAND defense during the trial, but the court did not uphold it. This judicial approach aligns with the views articulated last month by Presiding Judge Dr. Schacht, who advocated for strict standards against implementers deemed “unwilling licensees.”

Next month, the German Federal Patent Court is expected to issue a non-binding preliminary opinion (NBPO) on the validity of the patent. If the opinion is negative, it may affect the subsequent enforcement of the injunction; IP Finance will continue to monitor further developments.

Case Background

The litigation between ASUS and OPPO originated in April 2025, when ASUS and ISC—either directly or through their licensing partners—filed SEP infringement lawsuits against Xiaomi, OPPO, and its premium brand OnePlus at the First Regional Court of Munich, Germany, regarding the EP2802185 patent.

In May 2025, ISC filed a lawsuit against OPPO and OnePlus at the Munich Division of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), involving the aforementioned EP2802185 patent.

In June 2025, ASUS filed separate lawsuits against OPPO (and its subsidiary Realme) and Xiaomi at the Munich Division of the UPC, involving the EP3346616 patent.

In September 2025, in response to OPPO’s lawsuit filed earlier that year at the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court regarding VVC (H.266) standard-essential patents, ASUS filed an application with the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) requesting that the VVC patent be declared invalid; however, this request was not supported by the CNIPA.

In October 2025, Xiaomi filed a motion for a FRAND ruling with the High Court of England and Wales (EWHC) to counter the patent claims made by ASUS and the ISC. That same month, Xiaomi’s request for discovery filed with a U.S. court was granted, allowing it to obtain relevant materials—including ASUS’s patent licensing practices—to support its defense regarding FRAND royalty rates.

In November 2025, Xiaomi reached a settlement with ASUS and related companies, ending their global patent disputes in Germany, the UK, the US, and the UPC; the terms of the agreement have not yet been disclosed.

In December 2025, the trial began for the patent infringement lawsuit filed by OPPO against ASUS with the Ningbo Intermediate People’s Court in Zhejiang.

On March 5, 2026, the First Regional Court of Munich, Germany, issued a first-instance judgment finding that ASUS had infringed European Patent EP3657687 held by OPPO. This marked OPPO’s first judicial victory in its counterclaim in this case.

On March 27, 2026, the 21st Civil Chamber of the Munich Regional Court issued a ruling granting ISC an injunction against OPPO and OnePlus for their 5G multi-mode devices, based on patent EP2802185. The court also rejected OPPO’s FRAND defense.