The Japan Patent Office’s ‘Guide to Licensing Negotiations Involving Standard Essential Patents’ (second edition)
In June 2022, the Japan Patent Office (JPO) released the revision to “The Guide to Licensing Negotiations Involving Standard Essential Patents” (the guide 1st edition), which aims to prevent or quickly resolve disputes concerning the licensing of standard essential patents (SEPs) (the second edition).
The first edition was formulated in 2018 to enhance transparency and predictability, facilitate negotiations between rights holders and implementers, and help prevent or quickly resolve disputes concerning the licensing of SEPs which are essential in implementing standards in the field of wireless communications and the like.
Since then, the situation surrounding SEPs continues to change significantly, and since the summer of 2020, judgments have been issued concerning inter-industry disputes between the telecommunications industry and the automotive industry. In light of these latest global trends, it was decided to revise the guide first edition to ensure that the “appropriate information” provided by it is up to date.
In revising the first edition, the JPO conducted a “Research and Study on Standard Essential Patents and Exhaustion” in the 2021 financial year, and published the “Research and Study on Standard Essential Patents and Exhaustion - Current Status and Issues of Patents Related to Networks and Services (Standard Essential Patents)” (the report) in March 2022. The report contains details of the discussions on the revised content by the study group of experts. Subsequently, in May 2022, a draft revision of the first edition (the draft revision) was compiled.
Major changes in the draft revision are as follows:
