INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS AND STANDARD SETTING

Standard setting relies on innovation in technology for new problems to solve. But sometimes the standards process itself has problems that demand innovation. As elsewhere, it is easier to follow than to lead, and the standard setting community owes a vote of thanks to two SDOs that are leading the way to ex ante disclosure.

Standards are about sharing intellectual property rights (IPR), but only with the permission of those that own them. As a result, the risk and reality of IPR infringement provides one of the greatest challenges to the creation and implementation of standards. In this article, I summarize the history, issues, policies and process surrounding the management of IPR rights in SSOs. &...

Recently, telecom giants Qualcomm and Broadcom have seemed to be spending more money suing each other than marketing their products. In one suit, Broadcom accused Qualcomm of abusing the standard setting process – and this month, a Federal judge agreed.

In February, the FTC capped the royalties that Rambus could charge on several patents essential to two SDRAM standards. As expected, Rambus appealed. But what do you do with those excess royalties while the appeal proceeds?

Consensus standards are about meeting everyone's needs, while proprietary de facto standards are about serving a single master. The result of neglecting the end user can be (how to say this delicately) revealing.