Published: May 23, 2018
Publisher: Lexology
The High People’s Court of Guangdong issued guidelines for hearing standard essential patent (SEP) disputes (the SEP Guidelines – available here in Chinese) on April 26, 2018. The High People’s Court of Guangdong is one of China’s most important forums for IP disputes and acts as the appellate court of the IP tribunal of Shenzen, home to China’s most successful technology companies. The SEP Guidelines are primarily concerned with SEP disputes in the telecommunications sector but are also of relevance for SEP disputes in other sectors of the economy.
The SEP Guidelines follow on the heels of the recent European Commission communication Setting out the EU approach to Standard Essential Patents (released November 2017). Both sets of guidelines take the position that a balance should be stuck between the rights of SEP holders, SEP licensees, and the general public.