Technical standards help drive innovation and growth by ensuring that interoperable and secure technologies are widely adopted by businesses and consumers. This is even more essential in consideration of the rapid digitalisation and AI transformation impacting all industrial fields.
Patents play a key role in this process by incentivising research and development and making innovative technologies available for standardisation at an early stage. Standardisation of the best possible technical solutions that meet market needs often requires the use of technologies protected by patents. Such patents, which are necessary to comply with a standard, are called Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) and when contributing them to standardisation patent holders typically commit to licensing these SEPs on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms and conditions.
As illustrated by several initiatives taken these last years by national and regional authorities, efforts should be considered to ensure a smooth and balanced relation between the patent and the standard systems which will be beneficial to all stakeholders. A friendly environment for innovation is absolutely key to foster European competitiveness but transparency and predictability are also essential parameters for the security of business transactions. It emphasises the importance of fact-based discussions in order to progress on these sensitive issues.
To this end, the EPO’s Observatory on Patents and Technology has launched a programme exploring the interactions between patents and standards, supported by its internal standard database rich of 5 million documents collected from Standard Developing Organisations. The first outcome will consist in a study revealing insights from a new EPO dataset and an analysis of recent European SEP case law, which will be presented during an event co-hosted with the French IP Office (INPI), in Paris, on 14 May 2025 (limited participation on site but remote participation open to all).
It will support the discussions of four dedicated panels composed of the best experts in data analysis, renown judges and practitioners, and high-level representatives of the industry. This event will also address alternative resolution mechanisms of FRAND disputes, with a particular focus on the UPC’s Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre whose activities are expected to start in 2025.
Register now to gain valuable insights and shape the future of innovation!
Organised by EPO in cooperation with INPI
Media Partner: Euractiv
