Published: 7/11/12
In this testimony, the U.S. Justice Department’s Antitrust Division explains the potential for standardization to enable SEP holders to engage in patent hold-up, “such as by excluding a competitor from a market or obtaining an unjustifiably higher price for its invention than would have been possible before the standard was set.” The testimony explains that FRAND commitments are designed to prevent those problems and others impacting standard implementers and consumers. SEP holders benefit as well: “[A] patent holder that also sells products and services related to the standard benefits from expanded marketing opportunities, and patent holders that focus on licensing their inventions benefit from an expanded source of revenue.”