Recently, a federal district court in California granted partial summary judgment for the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in an important intellectual property and antitrust case involving standard essential patents (SEP). The court’s decision requires an SEP holder to license its SEPs for cellular communication standards to all applicants willing to pay a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) rate, regardless of whether the applicant supplies components or end-devices. The decision represents a significant victory for the FTC in enforcing its views of an SEP holder’s commitments to license patents on FRAND terms.
Chief Economists from the US Federal Trade Commission, the US Department of Justice and the EU Directorate General for Competition, have agreed on a set of four, non-binding suggestions that should—if followed by standard-setting organizations – increase the level of protection afforded to consumers and promote innovation.
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