IPR Misuse: The Core Issue in Standards and Patents

Xuan Li, Programme Coordinator - South Centre, Geneva, Switzerland, and Baisheng An, Research Fellow - South Centre, Geneva, Switzerland

7/20/2009
(Original Publish Date: 6/1/2009)

Approximately thirty years ago, most standards were based on publicly available technologies. When a patent did exist, by the time the relevant standards had been drafted, the valid period of the patent had already expired. Currently, most standards are covered by IPRs still under protection. Grave concerns have arisen regarding the problematic combination of IPR and standards. International standardization organizations and competition authorities in some countries have been trying to address these concerns. Some progress has been achieved and 'solutions' provided. However, in practice, it has turned out that current 'solutions' are substantially limited and cannot efficiently address the problems arising from the combination of IPR and standards. When developing countries started to manufacture and export standardized products and consequently developed countries began to rely on licensing IPR to developing countries, this original fair competition issue in developed countries began to have an impact on South-North trade. Developing countries have begun to request that relevant international organizations such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) address the issue.