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Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, October 22 2012 @ 05:45 PM EDT |
This is actually more nuanced, depending on the
jurisdiction.
While it's true that the agreement to FRAND license is a
contract, it's a contract between the patent holder and the
standards body.
This means in most cases, the implementor (i.e. the person
who needs the license) is someone who is NOT A PARTY to that
contract (at least not directly, though they may or may not
be a member of the standards body).
There is a legal question on whether a third party (i.e.
non-signatory to a contract) can compel a party to a
contract to fulfill their contractual obligation. In the
US, this is generally "yes" - US law recognizes standing for
someone who is a beneficiary of a contract even if they're
not a party. In other jurisdictions, this is less clear
(for many years, the UK specifically did NOT recognize
standing of third parties, though AFAIK this is changing). [ Reply to This | Parent | # ]
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