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China's top court warns SEP licensing contracts can be 'tools' for monopoly conduct

By MLex Staff ( January 9, 2026, 09:09 GMT | Insight) -- China’s Supreme People’s Court has rejected a jurisdictional challenge in a standard-essential patent antitrust dispute, warning that licensing contracts can be used as “means or tools” for monopoly conduct. The court said alleged SEP-related monopoly conduct can arise during licence negotiations or while a licence is being carried out, meaning courts should not automatically treat a dispute as purely contractual simply because it surfaces during contract performance. MLex understands that the plaintiff is Zhejiang Dahua Technology and the defendant is Access Advance, although the ruling was published by local media Thursday in a version that does not disclose the parties’ names.China’s Supreme People’s Court, or SPC, has rejected a jurisdictional challenge in a standard-essential patent antitrust dispute, warning that licensing contracts can be used as “means or tools” for monopoly conduct....

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