Standard-relevant publications: evidence, processes and influencing factors

This paper introduces the concept of standard-relevant publications, complementary to standard-essential patents and framed by the concept of knowledge utilization. By analyzing the reference lists of the around 20,000 standards released by ISO, authors of scientific papers cited in standards who are working at German institutions were identified. The institutions include universities, independent research societies, ministerial research institutes and companies. Almost thirty interviews were conducted with the most-cited of these authors. The interviews addressed the processes by which scientific publications come to be referenced in standards, and the motivations, the barriers and the effects of this. The findings demonstrate opportunities for and challenges to establishing standard-relevant publications as a new performance indicator for researchers, funding agencies, standard-setting organizations and ultimately regulators.

Case law on standard essential patents in Europe

In Europe disputes over SEPs are frequently litigated. In Huawei v ZTE, the CJEU gave a landmark judgement where it established guidelines to balance the interests of SEP owners and those of implementers. In this paper we will cover that case as well as other important SEP-related decisions from courts in the UK, Germany, France, Netherland and Italy.

Standard Setting Organisations for the IoT: How To Ensure a Better Degree of Liability?

This early stage research article aims to outline an issue that, though not strictly connected to the cyber-sphere, is most likely going to affect it. Standard Setting/Developing Organisations (SSOs/SDOs) are getting more and more important in the electronics manufacturing field and also in the IP field by setting de facto mandatory rules for products to be safer but, most importantly, more efficient. Standards create trust in complex objects such as IoT devices, that are increasingly more available, especially the ones for the house. It is worth mentioning that the standards these organisations envision are not comparable to legislation but carry a significant ‘moral’ weight (soft law). However, these organisations are private in character and work on a voluntary basis. The problem lies in the creation of the standard when the essentiality of a patented innovation has to be assessed. These processes rely on the self-certification of businesses that their invention is truly essential to the development of a certain standard, which has led to a proliferation of new Standard Essential Patents (S.E.P.s). But in this case, there are no means to ensure some form of liability of these organisations when defects and shortcomings arise. It is argued that unless some form of liability is created for these organisations, IoT objects will never gain the trust of final users.

Technology Standardization in Innovation Management

The profound impact of technology standards—specifications for interfacing or compatibility between different components or products to interact and function synergistically—dictates an understanding of their evolution, processes by which they come to be, and their impact on businesses, industries, and countries. Technology standards span almost every conceivable aspect of the existing business landscape, especially in dynamic industry sectors. Standardization, the processes by which standards emerge and diffuse, is a complex phenomenon encompassing various actors at multiple levels (firm, industry, institutions) that engage in a sociopolitical process of negotiation and collaboration to facilitate the coalescing of multiple stakeholder interests on a chosen standard. Standardization is multifaceted and emerges through various mechanisms, mainly involving one or more of committee-based (de jure) standards, market-based competitive battles (de facto standards), and institutional (government-based) processes, most involving collective action. Market-based processes give prominence to dominant or pioneering firms that introduce technology leveraging the power of large installed base and network externalities, many times tipping the market in favor of the technology format that was first to market. Nonetheless, markets may not tip, and several technology formats may continue to dominate the market, as in the video game market. Standard-setting organizations (SSOs) spearhead convergence around standards by bringing various entities together to derive the specifications for technical compatibility through consensus. The role of governments in the emergence and diffusion of standards varies by the country, region, and nature of the standard. Standards have facilitated innovation at the firm and industry levels and broadly enhanced trade between nations. Intellectual property, specifically standard-essential patents (SEPs), has attracted significant attention due to the strategic and economic benefits that accrue to owners of such patents as well as the challenges they create within SSOs.

Conference Report on ‘Patents and Standards – Online FRAND-Forum’

There have recently been a large number of court decisions concerning questions of FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) licensing of standard essential patents (SEPs). Despite this high level of judicial activity, however, many of the questions surrounding this topic continue to remain unanswered. On 4 November 2020 the annual Mannheim (Germany) FRAND Forum organised by the FORUM Institute was held online to discuss these highly challenging issues. The forum spanned five presentations from both judicial and legal perspectives, as well as two group discussions in which around 30 people took part.

FRAND Defences Against the Grant of Injunctive Relief: Applying Huawei v ZTE in Singapore and China

From the size of A4 paper to 5G in the telecommunications sector, standards are ubiquitous. Standard essential patents (SEPs), which protect technology essential to standards, enable their proprietors to gain significant market power. Antitrust authorities therefore scrutinize the exercise of SEPs for breaches of competition law. In this regard, the ability of SEP proprietors to obtain injunctions against implementers as a remedy for infringement of SEPs where licensing negotiations have broken down or are ‘ongoing’ has proven controversial. Some fear that this enables SEP proprietors to threaten injunctions unless implementers agree to unfair, unreasonable, or discriminatory terms. In Huawei Technologies Co Ltd v ZTE Corp [2015] ECLI:EU:C:2015:477, the Court of Justice of the European Union identified circumstances where a SEP proprietor's application for injunctive relief as a remedy for infringement of its SEP constitutes an abuse of a dominant position, with the classification of the SEP proprietor's application as being abusive forming a ‘FRAND Defence’ which implementers may invoke against the grant of the injunction requested. This article analyzes whether this approach can be replicated by the Singapore Courts and whether the Chinese Courts, which have already dealt with SEP licensing disputes, adopt a similar approach.

Standardization and Standard Essential Patents for Public Good: Application in Automotive Industry

The majority of patents related to automotive safety systems are owned by a limited number of companies. Absorption and implementation of such innovations in large markets require solutions that would go beyond what is protected through exclusive means viz. patents. Taking learnings from the field of communication, wherein by implementing what is known as standard-essential patents, a horizontal deployment of a similar concept is required in other areas, most notably, automotive safety systems is necessitated. This study aims to explore the need for a practical approach to a broader technological, commercial, and social cause.

Analyses of the Key Technologies and Development Trends of Optical Networks from the Perspective of Standard Essential Patents

Because of the advancement of 5G, mobile devices, and broadband, the development of optical network technologies has received increased research attention. However, studies have mostly focused on the technical or market aspects rather than employing a macroscopic perspective to reveal the technology distribution of optical networks and the development trends in their key fields. Given that technologies disclosed by standard essential patents (SEPs) are the key technologies that determine the standards in relevant industries, we used SEPs optical networks as the basis of analyses and constructed a technology network. Therefore, the contribution of this study lies in bridging the research gap between two studies, using the perspective of SEPs to observe the key technologies in leading industry standard-setting. In addition to the aspects of technologies and markets addressed in existing studies, this study primarily discusses technology distribution and trends in optical networks. The results reveal that transmission of digital information, wireless communication networks and multiple communication are the key technical fields in developing optical networks, with wireless communication devices and digital information transmission being the main focus in recent years. Considering the gradual standardization of future optical network technologies and the fierce competition between manufacturers in SEP applications, relevant industries and universities should cooperate in key technical fields for research and development as well as in talent cultivation to facilitate the development of key technologies and industrial standards in optical networks. The current results may serve as a reference for both industry and academia with regard to research and development resource allocation.