Published: 2/8/16
Publication: WIPR
Companies that own standard-essential patents (SEPs) must stick to their obligation of licensing them on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, the EU commissioner for competition has said.
In a speech given to the College of Europe’s Global Competition Law Centre last week, EU commissioner Margrethe Vestager said: “I think the principle is clear: companies that own these patents can’t go back on the promise to license on FRAND terms that allowed their technology to be included in a standard in the first place, if there’s a willing licensee on the other side.”