Fr(a)nd(ly) Licensing at the Crossroads
Fr(a)nd(ly) Licensing at the Crossroads

Summary/Abstract: Patents declared standard essential have a special regime regarding licensing, as three conditions have to be met, precisely they have to be licensed on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms (FRAND). This has been one of the most discussed topics in the past couple of years in the field of patent licensing, as tech giants have started intensely debated lawsuits, especially before the UK Courts. Problems have arisen mostly from a Competition Law perspective, as illustrated by the Huawei v. The ZTE case, decided by the European Court of Justice (in terms of the possibility of qualifying the refusal to licence as abuse of a dominant position). Nevertheless, courts deal also with the problem of establishing royalties and with the issue of jurisdiction. On this background, through our study, we aim to clarify the landscape of standardisation and its ramifications regarding concluding licensing agreements. Moreover, considering the recent proposal for a Regulation on standard essential patents, we will emphasise on the importance of establishing a unitary legal framework. At the same time, we will analyse the main dispositions of the proposal, considering the response of the industry and the possible advantages and disadvantages that it implies.

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