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Licensing of standard-essential patent

Verantwortlicher Autor: Carlo Marino Rome, 21.01.2019, 09:32 Uhr
Kommentar: +++ Internet und Technik +++ Bericht 7313x gelesen

Rome [ENA] EU is trying to clarify principles around the licensing of standard-essential patent and a recent report concerning this issue is very stimulating. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2019/608854/IPOL_IDA(2019)608854_EN.pdf Standardization is strategic to innovative developments in a variety of industrial sectors, because it can guarantee efficiency gains. It can benefit consumers by

allowing manufacturers to increase the overall size of markets and achieve economies of scale as well as the increasing of product substitutability. Standardization is crucial in the quickly developing information and communication technology (ICT) and ‘Internet of Things’ fields (IoT) (consumer electronics, automative industry, and electricity grid industry). Since the ICT and IoT fields are some of the most important business sectors in Europe, and because similar R&D activities in People’s Republic of China and in USA in the corresponding scientific and technological fields are expected to grow rapidly in upcoming years, securing that standardization works to the benefit of companies that operate in the European Union

is more and more an urgency for the EU’s institutions. The interplay between patents and standards is imperative for innovation and growth. Standards ensure that interoperable and safe technologies are widely circulated among companies and consumers. Patents provide R&D with incentives and enable innovative companies to get an reasonable return on investments. Standards make reference to technologies that are protected by patents. A patent that protects technology essential to a standard is called a standard-essential patent (SEP).

SEPs therefore protect technologies that are essential for complying with technical standards and for marketing products based on such standards. Notably, standardization goes beyond the expected consumer issues: it is also fundamental to recent discussions about the use of ICT and IoT to create ‘smart cities’ dealing with issues such as traffic regulation, resource management, and public health in a more efficient manner . Exploring the viability of ‘open source’ approaches in standardization processes is also important for the EU institutions. As stressed in the Communication by the European Commission, synergies and effective interactions between standardization and open source communities have the potential

of promoting the acceptance of advanced technology developments. However, it is necessary to acknowledge that open-source success stories, such as software, have succeeded via copyright law, rather than patent law; and in the absence of a generally accepted system of open patenting, it may be insufficient as a solution. Nonetheless, although the open source and standardization ecosystems have different traits (for example in terms of the prevalent type of protection of intellectual property), they also share common aspects, including collaborative open processes and contribution to innovation.

Patents are a type of property, granting a monopoly over new inventions, for example a protected technology, that lasts for a 20 year period. In Europe, patents are typically granted at the European Patent Office (EPO) or at the national patent offices. As with any kind of property, owners must be able to enforce their rights against competitors who are trespassing, or infringing, upon their patents. Without the ability to enforce, there would be no way to recoup the investment in resources required to create a new patentable invention in the first place – including patents on important new technology standards relevant to ICT and IoT.

Exploring the viability of licensing pools and other licensing platforms, including platforms that make use of advanced machine-learning (artificial intelligence), which may be particularly suitable for IoT industries, especially SMEs could be another goal. Patent pools may be capable of upgrading several standard essential patents (SEP) licensing problems, for example by offering one-stop-shop solutions and providing clarity on aggregate licensing fees .

Via the one-stop-shop, patent pools have the potential to put patent owners in the position to offer a single joint licence for all the essential patents involved, with transactions costs being strongly reduced. Patent pool solutions could ensure sure that the aggregate royalty burden be such that the adoption of the standardized technology is still profitable to the user, despite the technology being protected by multiple patents.

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