International Technical Standards and Essential Patents: From International Harmonization to Competition of Technologies

Branislav Hazucha

6/11/2014
(Original Publish Date: 6/29/2010)

This Article scrutinizes experiences with the national and international technical standards for several generations of mobile telephony in Europe, Far East Asia and the United States with the focus on the recent internationalization of standard-setting process in this field, geographical distribution of essential patents under individual standards, and the development of intellectual property rights policies applicable to standard-setting processes for mobile telephony on the national, regional and international levels. The Article points out that the outcome of international standardization should not be an adoption of any single international standard. Conversely, the TBT Agreement should create an environment where several technical solutions can compete on the global market. The competition between several technologies is one of precondition for guaranteeing the further technological progress in a sustainable way.