New Study: Does Patent Monetization Promote SSO Participation?
A new study from Timothy Simcoe and Qing Zhang examines impact of Standard Setting Organization (SSO) intellectual property rights (IPR) policies on standardization and innovation. The authors "interpret these findings as evidence that any link between IPR policies, innovation, and SSO participation is much weaker than purely theoretical arguments to the contrary often suggest." Read the study here.
ACT | The App Association Applauds the Department of Justice Restoring 2015 Business Review Letter Interpretation
(WASHINGTON, DC) April 15, 2021- Today, ACT | The App Association released a statement regarding the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) restoration of its 2015 Business Review Letter supporting key clarifications on standard-essential patent (SEP) licensing issues made by the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA): “The App Association welcomes the DOJ Antitrust Division’s decision to restore the 2015 Business Review Letter in support of IEEE-SA’s efforts to clarify its patent policy by clarifying and strengthening its fair, reasonable, [...]
ACT | The App Association Statement on the Report of the European Commission’s Expert Group on Standard-Essential Patents
(Brussels) 10 February 2021 – Today, ACT | The App Association released a statement on behalf of chairperson Mike Sax on the release of the European Commission’s (EC) Expert Group Report on Standard-Essential Patents (SEP): “Unfortunately, today’s release of the Expert Group’s report confirmed what we long expected. The findings and recommendations, on their face, do not reflect the balance which the EC consistently sought in the public debate surrounding SEPs. The failure by the group to [...]
Leading Groups Express Support for IEEE-SA’s Patent Policy in New Letter
Forty-one organizations expressed their support for IEEE-SA’s patent policy in a letter to the standards organization. The 2015 IEEE-SA policy change is the prime example of a standard setting organization demonstrating leadership in providing clarity on the meaning of fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) commitments to make access to key standards like WiFi much more certain and manageable. The goal of this letter is to support IEEE-SA in light of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust [...]
Multi-organization Letter to House and Senate Committees Regarding Standard-Essential Patent Abuse
On February 3, 2021, ACT | The App Association and a number of other organizations sent a letter to House and Senate Committees regarding abuse of standard-essential patents and potential Congressional Action. To read the full text of the letter, click here.
Recommendations to the Biden-Harris Administration on Standard-Essential Patent Licensing Policy Priorities and Actions
On January 13, 2021, ACT | The App Association and other organizations sent a memo of recommendations to the Biden-Harris Administration regarding possible policy priorities and actions the new administration can take to curb abuse of standard-essential patent licensing. To read the full memo, click here.
Debunking A Myth About Innovation and Standards
On the Policy@Intel blog, Intel's Greg Slater, Vice-President, Policy and Technical Affairs, and Earl Nied, Program Director, Standards and Intellectual Property Rights, debunks the myth that there is a distinction between innovator companies that invent technologies for inclusion in standards and implementer companies that build standards-compliant products. Read more here
Gov’t Policy Statement On SEP Remedies Should Be Cabined
Thomas Cotter, the Briggs and Morgan professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School and an Innovators Network Foundation intellectual property fellow, analyzes the latest update on standards essential patent remedies policy by the U.S. Department of Justice, Patent and Trademark Office, and National Institute of Standards and Technology. Read his article at Law360
INSIGHT: New Statement on Standard-Essential Patents Relies on Omissions, Strawmen, Generalities
Innovators Network Fellow and Rutgers Law School Professor Michael A. Carrier takes issue with the new joint statement on Standard–Essential Patents, saying the statement’s generalities do not meaningfully assist courts and other policymakers on patent holdup issues. Further, a series of omissions and strawmen make the statement less balanced and reasonable than the document it replaced. Read the article on Bloomberg Law
IoT Innovators Send Strong Message in Support for Reform of Germany’s Automatic Injunctions Law
Berlin, October 1st 2019 – Companies at the forefront of the Internet of Things (IoT) met with policymakers, academics and patent lawyers in Berlin on Monday to support much needed reforms to the rules governing the licensing of standard essential patents (SEPs), underway in Germany at the moment. The half-day workshop entitled: German Leadership in Standard Essential Patents & FRAND Licensing, included executives from several industries involved in the development of IoT technologies, including the auto and auto parts [...]
2 Themes From Qualcomm’s Appeal Of FTC’s Antitrust Win
Thomas, Cotter, Innovators Network Fellow and Briggs and Morgan professor of law at the University of Minnesota Law School wrote an analysis of the Qualcomm appeal in FTC v Qualcomm. Read his article on Law360
ACT | The App Association Statement on Appeals Court Granting Partial Stay in Qualcomm Antitrust Case
(WASHINGTON, DC) August 23, 2019–Today, ACT | The App Association released a statement from president Morgan Reed in response to the federal appeals court ruling that granted a partial stay of the sweeping antitrust judgment against Qualcomm. “It’s a disappointing decision, but we’re confident that the courts will see through the absurdity of Qualcomm’s arguments in the end. Qualcomm has run a decades-long anticompetitive bait-and-switch scheme that has decimated the American wireless equipment industry and gift-wrapped the 5G [...]
Brief Of Amicus Curiae ACT | The App Association In Opposition to Qualcomm’s Motion for Partial Stay Pending Appeal
On July 24, 2019, ACT | The App Association filed a Brief Of Amicus Curiae In Opposition to Qualcomm’s Motion for Partial Stay Pending Appeal
Apple Not In A Rush To Roll Out 5G iPhone: Here’s Why
“According to multiple reports, Apple will have to shell out around $21 per unit of 5G-equipped iPhone sold for licensing cost. For a 4G-equipped device, the average cost is just $9.60.” A Repost from www.techtimes.com While Apple is interested in introducing the technology to its products, the company will take its time before launching its 5G-compatible iPhones. According to multiple reports, Apple will have to shell out around $21 per unit of 5G-equipped iPhone sold for licensing [...]
Industry report – Who will be the technology leader for 5G? Part two
Co-published The recent publication of the 5G standard specification has changed the game in terms of communication technology, with the Internet of Things (IoT) looking likely to become a reality (for further information please see “Who will be the technology leader for 5G? Part one”). Part two of this report presents an analysis of the available 5G-related SEP data and the big names behind the 5G patent portfolios. While the implementation and licensing of LTE SEPs mainly concerned the [...]
Guest Post: IEEE’s Continued Leadership in Standardization
By Konstantinos Karachalios IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. With more than 423,000 members, IEEE is a trusted voice for engineering, computing, and technology information around the globe. The IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA), which oversees IEEE standards development, is a leading consensus building organization that nurtures, develops, and advances global technologies. With collaborative thought leaders in more than 160 countries, IEEE-SA promotes innovation, enables the creation [...]
Cross Post: TCL v. Ericsson: The First Major U.S. Top-Down FRAND Royalty Decision
By Professor Jorge L. Contreras This blog was originally posted on PatentlyO, and can be viewed here. On December 21, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California released its long-awaited Memorandum of Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in TCL Communications v. Ericsson (SACV 14-341 JVS(DFMx) and CV 15-2370 JVS (DFMx)). In a lengthy and carefully crafted decision, Judge James Selna sets forth some important new points regarding the calculation of fair, reasonable and [...]
The European Commission’s New Standard Essential Patents – Top Three Takeaways
This blog was originally posted on the ACTonline website. It can be viewed here. On November 29, 2017, the European Commission (EC) issued a highly-anticipated Communication on the licensing practices for standard essential patents (SEPs). The EC issued the Communication to provide a “balanced, smooth and predictable framework for SEPs” that will contribute to “the development of the Internet of Things and harnessing Europe's lead role in in this context.” For more details on the Communication, we’ve written [...]
Republic of Korea’s Highest Court Upholds Landmark KFTC Corrective Order in Support of the FRAND Commitment
This was originally published on the ACT | The App Association blog, here. Last month, the Supreme Court of Korea, the Republic of Korea's highest court, issued an important ruling that will have a wide impact on standard essential patents (SEPs) and fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing practices. In December 2016, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) issued a Corrective Order against Qualcomm, fining them $951 million for anti-competitive behavior, including the abuse of FRAND commitments, [...]
Have Qualcomm, Ericsson and Nokia become open source converts? Or are they inviting pirates to clone their SEP-protected communications chips?
This was originally published on the ACT | The App Association blog, here. If you can have access to a patented technology but you aren’t allowed to licence it, that either means the licensor is offering it up for free, in the way open source software developers offer up their wares free to others without asking them to sign a licence. Or it means that piracy of your technologies isn’t a big deal, help yourself. IP Europe [...]
IP Europe’s Disingenuous Case for Giving its Members a License to Discriminate
This blog was originally posted on ACT | The App Association's website. In a new blog post, IP Europe gave its favorite false narrative a new coat of paint by suggesting that the bedrock FRAND requirement of “license for all” equates to some kind of “license to kill.” It’s a clever turn-of-phrase designed to appeal to European Commission officials debating the final shape of a Communication on the licencing of standard essential patents. Parts of the Commission, [...]
The Antitrust Cases Against Qualcomm Have a Strong Foundation
By Timothy Muris Timothy J. Muris is a Foundation Professor of Law at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School and Senior Counsel at Sidley Austin LLP. He was the Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition, 1983-85, and Chairman of the FTC, 2001-04. Since leaving the FTC, he remains active on these antitrust issues both as a scholar and expert for a variety of clients, including ACT. This article reflects his own views. [...]
CROSS POST: SEP Licenses Available to All
This blog is cross posted from the Fair Standards Alliance. The blog was originally published on August 17th, and may be viewed here. As explained in our Position Paper of 24 June 2016, today’s increasingly connected world demands cooperation and interoperation among many different products. To ensure widespread adoption of common standardized interfaces, Standards Setting Organisations (SSOs) obligate contributors to license Standards Essential Patents (SEPs) on Fair, Reasonable and Non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. However, some SEP holders are failing to [...]
Submission to the Seoul High Court from ACT | The App Association Regarding Irreparable Harm to Public Interest
On August 11, ACT | The App Association submitted comments to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) to argue that a stay of KFTC's Corrective Order on Qualcomm's licensing practices would cause irreparable public harm to the public interest. To view the full submission, please click here.
Motion – DENIED: An Important Step Towards Understanding FRAND Commitments
In June, Judge Koh of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California denied Qualcomm’s motion to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) enforcement suit asserting that Qualcomm violated competition law in its mobile phone chip licensing practices. ACT | The App Association believes that a ruling based on the merits of the case will allow the court to bring much-needed clarity to app developers, and businesses of all sizes, on what constitutes appropriate negotiating [...]