European Commission – The EU’s Approach to Standard Essential Patents

On November 29, 2017, the European Commission published its approach to Standard Essential Patents (COM(2017) 712 final). Two main objectives shall be achieved: Incentivizing the development and inclusion of top technologies in standards by preserving fair and adequate return for these contributions, and ensuring smooth and wide dissemination of standardized technologies based on fair conditions. To this end, various measurements are proposed, such as providing an SEP licensing framework by standard-organizations, or increasing transparency by publication of SEP-related court decisions (both validity and Infringement). Parties that are negotiating FRAND conditions shall have access to key points on the FRAND concept. By creating patent pools, more clarity on aggregate licensing fees shall be achieved. Finally, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, such as mediation and arbitration, shall be supported.

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