EU governments prioritise IP in 5G catch-up plan
European governments have agreed to prioritise IP as they look to gain the upper hand in the race to lead the development of 5G telecommunications technology.
The Council of the EU, made up of governments of EU member states, yesterday adopted conclusions on ‘ Shaping Europe's Digital Future’.
The document adopted by the Council stresses the importance of IP in incentivising R&D in the development of key technologies in 5G.
Part of the development of the EU’s strategy for the future of its digital economy, the document is expected to feed into the development of the European Commission’s Horizontal Guidelines on competition, as well as its IP Action Plan.
IP is just one topic falling under the scope of the digital strategy. Croatian transport minister and Council president Oleg Butković said that the “digital transformation will not only help address the current health crisis, but will also be a key engine for economic recovery, green growth and the strategic autonomy of the EU”.
A group representing major 5G patent owners like Ericsson, Nokia, and Orange, has welcomed the explicit link made between IP and incentivising the development of 5G technologies.
Francisco Mingorance, chief executive of IP Europe, told WIPR that this link was a “new” development in terms of how the Council has approached the issue.
According to Mingorance, EU governments have recognised the importance of IP in competing with rival companies in China, who have emerged as leaders in the development of 5G.
It has been alleged that companies such as Huawei, the global leader in declared 5G standard-essential patents (SEPs), have catapulted ahead of their European counterparts with the advantage of state support.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Christmas Day last year that Huawei had been given as much as $75 billion in state support in the form of tax breaks and financing.
Huawei itself has laughed off such accusations, dismissing them as an effort to “protect US technological hegemony”.
But according to Mingorance, “we can’t say today that there is a global level playing field”.
“In Europe, we operate in a market economy, that’s the environment—European developers don’t have the perks that their Asian and Chinese counterparts have,” he claimed.
The argument from European SEP owners goes that, while China has state-backed “perks” to boost and incentivise development, Europe has IP.
Huawei says that the “government subsidies, bank loans, and tax incentives that [it] receives are no different to those received by its major competitors”.
But concerns over an alleged leg-up from Beijing appear to have rattled the Trump administration.
In February, WIPR reported that US attorney general William Barr suggested a US takeover of Nokia or Ericsson, Europe’s 5G leaders, to combat Huawei’s ascendance.
“Putting our large market and financial muscle behind one or both of these firms would make it a more formidable competitor and eliminate concerns over its staying power,” Barr claimed.
No one in Europe appears to be contemplating such a move. IP Europe’s corporate members, including both of those companies, do not want “preferential treatment” or “special favours”, Mingorance insisted.
“All they want is compensation for their technologies,” Minogrance said. “Without that, we’ll probably lose the race.”
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