Title
How Essential are Standard-Essential Patents?
Author
Mark A. Lemley, and Timothy Simcoe
Date
5/22/2018
(Original Publish Date: 3/22/2018)
(Original Publish Date: 3/22/2018)
Abstract
Courts, commentators, and companies have devoted enormous time and energy to the problem of standard-essential patents (SEPs) - patents that cover (or at least are claimed to cover) industry standards. With billions of dollars at stake, there has been a great deal of litigation and even more lobbying and writing about problems such as how if at all standard-setting organizations (SSOs) should limit enforcement of patent rights, whether a promise to license SEPs on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms is enforceable in court or in arbitration, what a FRAND royalty is, and whether a refusal to comply with a FRAND commitment violates the antitrust laws.