SEP licensing: know your rights
Standard essential patent (SEP) disputes in courts, before policymakers, and in other fora continue to rage around the world. The issue—at its core, what is fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) behaviour in an SEP licensing scenario—is so important because it intersects with a wide variety of policy areas including IP, innovation, and antitrust.
SEP issues sit at the heart of future technology developments that will support internet of things (IoT) deployments across consumer and enterprise markets. Meanwhile, 5G technologies will have an increasing role to play in the future economy by enabling the rise of the IoT.
Some policymakers and courts are trying to clear a path for the future by providing clarity and balance on important aspects of SEP-FRAND, but this is proving to be a difficult task. Billions of euros in licensing fees are at stake. Not surprisingly, there is hot debate among companies involved in forging Europe’s nascent IoT.
On one side is a small group of companies that have shifted their business models from putting products into the market, to maximising profits from SEP licensing, including Nokia, Ericsson, InterDigital, and Qualcomm. These are the companies that hold a large portion of the patents that are essential for the implementation of key interoperability standards such as 4G/LTE, wifi and Bluetooth, as well as in emerging standards that will drive future 5G networks.
On the other side, technology innovators that include thousands of small businesses as well as companies such as Apple, Intel, Samsung, and Cisco have business models focused on providing cutting-edge products and services to consumers and enterprise users. They are at the vanguard of IoT around the world.
New industries are becoming involved in the debate as they seek to use internet connectivity and sensors to make “dumb” products “smart”. The most talked-about is the automotive sector, where all the big manufacturers and their suppliers are investing heavily in R&D to bring communications-connected cars to the market. Many have already run into trouble negotiating SEP licences, most notably with Nokia.
