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Standards Essential and FRAND | 354 comments | Create New Account
Comments belong to whoever posts them. Please notify us of inappropriate comments.
Standards Essential and FRAND
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, October 22 2012 @ 10:02 AM EDT
Not sure which specific you're objecting to?

Summarized, my point is that (AFAIK) FRAND isn't part of
patent law. It's contract law, specifically a contract
entered into by the participants in the standards creating
body. It's not a general "thing that happens" when a patented
thing becomes popular/necessary to compete with the patent
holder.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Standards Essential and FRAND
Authored by: Ian Al on Monday, October 22 2012 @ 12:31 PM EDT
Are you saying that, in the US, there is a legal requirement to negotiate a
standards essential patent licence?

Most of the government accepted international standards bodies are specialised
agencies of the United Nations. Each government appoints their own standards
organisations to serve on the specialised agencies. Global companies do the
same.

Professional engineering institutes are usually national, as is the IEEE,
although they sometimes issue standards that are accepted internationally. They
are non-profits representing individual technology professionals. Is there any
indication in US law that a declaration to a UN specialised agency or a national
non-profit professional body creates a commercial contract framework in the US?

Unless there is, then I think your comment that 'Under FRAND you must license
to any and all comers. That's what you promise to do' would be an ethical 'must'
rather than a legal one.

Also, I think that the term 'Standards Essential Patents' must be used with
care. The US DOD holds many patents and will require many of its procurements to
comply with its own internal standards, sometimes using its patents. They will
have no general FRAND declaration as far as I know. As with the IEEE (more so,
in fact) those military specification standards are used as international
standards.

It is mainly the UN specialised agencies that call for a FRAND declaration on
international standards. They are the standards bodies standardising most of the
worlds technology. We need to know, specifically, what are the legal
requirements in the jurisdictions around the world that relate to UN
international standards.

---
Regards
Ian Al
Software Patents: It's the disclosed functions in the patent, stupid!

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Standards Essential and FRAND
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, October 22 2012 @ 11:14 PM EDT
To clarify - FRAND is not an exception WITHIN PATENT LAW.
There's no law that compels patent holders to license to
anyone, whether under FRAND terms or any other terms.

FRAND obligations arise by contract, specifically a
contractual agreement between the patent holder and a standard
creating body.

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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