Standard-essential patents (SEPs) protect the technology that is required for equipment manufacturers to comply with international standards. This technology includes 5G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, among others.
During the course of the last decade, patent disputes concerning mobile technology have been at the center of battles between Apple, Microsoft, HTC, Motorola, and Samsung Electronics, as well as Nokia.
To try to prevent litigation, the European Commission suggested recommendations to restrict patents increasingly in demand for technologies used in smart gadgets such as drones, automobiles and mobile phones,
According to the Commission, attempts at self-regulation have been unsuccessful, and the system that is now in place for SEPs is incoherent, lacks transparency, and results in protracted disagreements.
In the new plan, either party in a disagreement would be permitted to approach a court for a provincial injunction over possible royalties even as the two parties negotiate.
Companies that have crucial patents in the sectors of telecommunications, computing, payment terminals, and other types of smart technology are required to register them with the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in accordance with executive proposals put out by the European Union. After that, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) will be in charge of supervising the process of determining fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) royalties, which should be finished within nine months.
Losers of injunctions contend that they can increase royalties and impede competition, while winners of injunctions maintain that they are vital for the protection of their rights.
The EU proposal includes not just an extension of the patent for an additional five years, but also a whole new supplemental protection certificate that can be used for medicinal and plant protection products. This would function in conjunction with the next unitary patent that the EU will launch on June 1st.
In the event of an emergency, the proposal includes another component that would give governments the authority to grant permission for the use of patented innovations without the approval of the patent holder. One example of this would be the use of medical technologies during pandemics.
It is necessary for the rules to receive approval from all member states of the EU as well as from the European Parliament before they can become law and be open to further amendment.
