The digital economy relies on coordinated efforts by industry participants to set information communication technology (ICT) standards through Standard-Development Organisations (SDOs) to better meet consumers’ demand for interoperability, connectivity and innovation in a timely fashion. The diffusion of global standards such as 6G, Wi-Fi 7 and HEVC drives economic growth and prosperity by enabling the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. However, as ICT standards become general-purpose technologies and cross the boundaries of traditional computer and telecommunications industries, tensions arise regarding the licensing of patents declared as essential for their implementation (i.e., standard-essential patents, SEPs).
Despite the global nature of ICT standardisation, prominent economies are dealing with SEP licensing and litigation mainly from a national or, at best, regional policy perspective. After consultations with SEP stakeholders, the UK, through its Intellectual Property Office, opted for non-regulatory interventions and launched in 2024 an online SEP Resource Hub to help SMEs address concerns relating to SEPs. At the European Union level, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU are discussing a legislative proposal that would change the European legal framework for administering and licensing SEPs that so far rested on national patent laws and EU competition law, as applied by the courts. In August 2023, the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation revised its antitrust rules on IP-related practices, with specific provisions on SEP and patent pool practices and invited comments on draft ‘Anti-Monopoly Guidelines in the Field of SEPs’. A similar soft-law approach to SEPs is in place in Japan, whose Patent Office has guidelines on licensing negotiations and SEPs since 2018, renewed in 2022. In contrast, in 2022 the US Department of Justice, Patent and Trademark Office and National Institute of Standards and Technology withdrew their 2019 joint policy statement on SEP remedies, relying on case-by-case scrutiny instead of soft-law guidance.
In April 2024, WIPO published its 3-year Strategy on SEPs, representing a complementary approach to the national or regional initiatives.
The 2024 Joint EUI – WIPO SEP Workshop gives voice to critical institutional and industry stakeholders of ICT standardisation to share their views, concerns and suggestions on the global state of play regarding SEP administration, licensing and enforcement issues. Building upon the WIPO Strategy on SEPs 2024-2026, it sets the stage for a lively policy discussion focussed on four interrelated research questions:
- What do SDOs need to succeed in their mission of producing high-quality, open and global standards?
- What initiatives can the IP offices take to support the wide adoption of standardized technologies?
- How are SEP disputes resolved in different jurisdictions, and what are the alternatives?
- What is the past, present and future of SEP licensing in the IoT?
- The Workshop is jointly organised by the EUI Centre for a Digital Society and WIPO. It will be held in a hybrid format: invited speakers and a limited number of participants will attend in person in Florence, while the general audience can follow the conference free of charge via Zoom.