No contract right, no standing

A technical setting illustrated a basic requirement for a justiciable claim in Continental Automotive Systems v. Avanci:

“[A]ssuming Continental is contractually entitled to a license on FRAND [‘fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory’]  terms as a third-party beneficiary, the pleadings reflect that it has suffered no cognizable injury. Put another way, even if Continental has rights under FRAND contracts, the contracts have not been breached because the SEP [‘standard-essential patent’] holders have fulfilled their obligations to the SSOs [“standard-setting organizations”] with respect to Continental. The supplier acknowledges that Avanci and Patent-Holder Defendants are ‘actively licensing the SEPs to the OEMs[,]’ which means that they are making SEP licenses available to Continental on FRAND terms. As it does not need to personally own SEP licenses to operate its business, it has not been denied property to which it was entitled. And absent a ‘denial of property to which a plaintiff is entitled,’ Continental did not suffer an injury in fact. ”

 

No. 20-11032 (Feb. 28, 2022).