Posts Tagged: "SEPs"

The Top U.S. FRAND / RAND Licensing Developments of 2023 Part I: Everybody into the Pool!

With respect to patents subject to a commitment to license on a Fair Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) or Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (RAND) basis, 2023 saw many interesting developments. This includes several new pool-based licensing programs being launched, and others gaining traction, various interlocutory decisions, the dismissal of some antitrust suits, and, as always, the specter of possible government intervention.

Judge Rader Inducted into IPWatchdog Masters™ Hall of Fame During SEP Program

Following a panel that examined the international landscape for standard essential patents (SEPs), IPWatchdog’s Founder and CEO, Gene Quinn, and Chief Operating Officer, Renee Quinn, presented The Honorable Randall Rader with the IPWatchdog Masters™ Hall of Fame award and a sketched portrait to add to the Wall of Fame at IPWatchdog’s headquarters. Judge Rader served as a circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit from 1990 through 2010, and as the court’s Chief Judge from 2010-2014. He has won numerous awards and now works an arbitrator, mediator and consultant with the Rader Group. In his explanation of the origins of the IPWatchdog Masters™ Hall of Fame in 2022, Quinn said he wanted an IP Hall of Fame that included only “real IP professionals; people who mean something to me, people I want you to hear from.”

EU SEP Regulation Update: Reenvisaging the European ‘FRANDscape’

On  April 27, 2023, the European Commission published its proposal for how the licensing of standard essential patents (SEPs) should be governed in the EU. The draft regulation states that the initiative aims to incentivize participation by European firms in the standard development process and the broad implementation of such standardized technologies, particularly in IoT industries. The developments are of interest to any business that develops, implements or markets connective technologies.

Deadline for Comments on USPTO RFC on Standards and IP Extended

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has extended the deadline for comments on its joint request for comments (RFC) with the International Trade Administration (ITA) and the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) on the agencies’ collaboration initiative concerning standards and intellectual property. In a Federal Register Notice (FRN) published today, the USPTO announced the new deadline will be November 6, 2023. The original deadline was September 29.

Implementer Arguments at the USPTO Public Listening Session on Standards Ignore Business Realities

Yesterday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) held a “public listening session” to hear from industry leaders on the topic of standard essential patents. The event was specifically related to the USPTO’s effort to obtain stakeholder input on questions regarding proposed international standards that were presented in a recent Federal Register Notice, as well as strategies identified in the White House’s National Standards Strategy for Critical and Emerging Technologies.