ABSTRACT: Standards Wars: Rights, Responsibilities, and Strategies

Steve Henry, Wolf Greenfield (Boston), Ed Russavage, Wolf Greenfield (Boston), and Liza Vertinsky, Wolf Greenfield (Boston)

10/20/2008
(Original Publish Date: 6/30/2008)

Participation in standard-setting organizations (SSOs) raises issues with grave implications for many companies. SSOs promote interoperability in technology systems through the adoption of technical standards. Conflicting demands for standardization, free dispersion of information, and the need to protect proprietary technologies, have left technology companies caught in the middle of industry standard "wars." To protect its core technology while remaining competitive, a company must learn to navigate these waters. A company that chooses to participate in SSOs must learn to do so without inadvertently subjecting itself to unclear or unacceptable obligations, without unintentionally giving up property rights, and without conferring unintended advantages on others.