Essential patent
{{Licensing of patents}}
An essential patent or standard-essential patent (SEP) is a patent that claims an invention that must be used to comply with a technical standard.{{cite journal |last1=Shapiro |first1=Carl |title=Navigating the Patent Thicket: Cross Licenses, Patent Pools, and Standard Setting |journal=Innovation Policy and the Economy |date=January 2000 |volume=1 |pages=119–150 |doi=10.1086/ipe.1.25056143 |s2cid=17290328 |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/ipe.1.25056143 |language=en |issn=1531-3468}} Standard-setting organizations (SSOs) normally require their members to agree to license their essential patents on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.{{cite journal |last1=Sidak |first1=J. G. |title=The Meaning of FRAND, Part I: Royalties |journal=Journal of Competition Law and Economics |date=1 December 2013 |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=931–1055 |doi=10.1093/joclec/nht040|doi-access=free }} Determining which patents are essential to a particular standard can be complex.{{cite web |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/elizabethwoyke/2011/09/21/identifying-the-tech-leaders-in-lte-wireless-patents/ |title=Identifying The Tech Leaders In LTE Wireless Patents |author=Elizabeth Woyke |date=2011-09-21 |work=Forbes |accessdate=March 10, 2012}}
See also
- Patent ambush, a situation in which patents are withheld during development of a proposed standard
- Patent infringement, the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention
- Patent thicket, a negatively connoted term for an overlapping set of patent rights
- Orange-Book-Standard, a German decision on the interaction between patent law and technical standards
- Standardization, the process of creating technical standards
References
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Further reading and viewing
- "[http://www.abanet.org/antitrust/at-committees/at-exemc/pdf/liability.pdf Potential Antitrust Liability Based on a Patent Owner's Manipulation of Industry Standard Setting]", Proceedings of ABA Antitrust Section Spring Meeting (2003) by Janice M. Mueller.
- "[https://web.archive.org/web/20050517131019/http://www.law.berkeley.edu/journals/btlj/articles/vol17/mueller.pdf Patent Misuse Through the Capture of Industry Standards]", 17 Berkeley Tech. L.J. 623 (2002) by Janice M. Mueller.
- {{cite video |last1=Mossoff |first1=Adam |last2=Contreras |first2=Jorge |last3=Kulbaski |first3=James J. |date=November 30, 2012 |title=Standards-Essential Patents: Where Do IP Protections End and Antitrust Concerns Begin? |url=http://iiscast.wlf.org/vod/sctr01_20121129093925/1/start.html?media=Media1a.asx |format=ASX |medium=video |publisher=Washington Legal Foundation |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221809/http://iiscast.wlf.org/vod/sctr01_20121129093925/1/start.html?media=Media1a.asx |archivedate=March 3, 2016 |accessdate=December 17, 2012 |url-status=dead }}
- {{cite web |last1=Vidal |first1=Kathi |title=Standard essential patent policy and practices: We want to hear from you! |url=https://www.uspto.gov/subscription-center/2022/standard-essential-patent-policy-and-practices-we-want-hear-you |website=www.uspto.gov |access-date=30 September 2023 |date=10 April 2022}}