European Commission Holds Consultation On Patents And Standards

The European Commission Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry is gathering stakeholder input on standardisation and intellectual property rights, particularly patents,  in order to assess the current framework on patents and standards and look at how it should be updated. Standard-setting cuts across many organisations at the national, European and international levels. Views are being sought until January 2015.

The following is from the European Commission webpage on the consultation (full details on how to submit contributions are on the website):
“A modern framework for standardisation involving intellectual property rights

 

Topic and objective

The objective of this consultation is to gather information and views on the interplay between standardisation and intellectual property rights (IPR) such as patents.

Standardisation is the voluntary process of developing technical specifications based on consensus among the interested parties. Standard setting takes place in the European and International Standardisation Organizations (ETSI, CEN, CENELEC, ITU, ISO, IEC) but also in other organizations and fora or consortia on national, European or international level. Many standards comprise technologies that are patent protected. Public authorities and the standardisation community have developed rules and practices to ensure the efficient licensing of these standard-related patents.

The purpose of this consultation is to allow stakeholders interested in standardisation involving patents, to bring to the Commission’s attention their views on

– how the current framework governing standardisation involving patents performs and on
– how it should evolve to ensure that standardization remains efficient and adapted to the fast-changing economic and technological environment.

The European Commission has the task of ensuring that the European Union’s internal market functions efficiently. Therefore harmonisation standards are particularly important for the EU. Furthermore, an efficiently performing standardization system is crucial for the EU’s objectives in the areas of industry policy, innovation, services and technological development.

 

Target group(s)

Companies of all sizes, organizations, public authorities, citizens and any other interested stakeholders are welcome to contribute to this consultation.

We particularly encourage those having direct experience with standardisation involving intellectual property rights to share with us their experience and insight. This includes those currently active in standardisation activities or planning to become active, as well as those who use standards without taking part in their formulation.

We also encourage participation by those having direct experience with

– patent transfers
– patent pools and other types of patent market intermediation
– patent dispute resolution (Courts, ADR service providers, users of ADR services etc.).

Period of consultation

The consultation is open from 14 October 2014 to 31 January 2015.

Questionnaire

Please find eight key questions as well as modules with more detailed questions in the following questionnaire:

Public Consultation on Patents and Standards [Word]
Public Consultation on Patents and Standards [PDF]

Study on “Patents and Standards”

In 2013 DG Enterprise and Industry commissioned a fact-finding study on the issue of patents and standards. This fact-finding study analyses the rules and practices developed to ensure efficient licensing of standard-related patents. It also covers barriers to efficient licensing and ideas discussed among stakeholders for dealing with these barriers.

The study can be found here:
– Final Report
– Executive Summary

The study is useful background reading for this public consultation. The questionnaire is stand-alone and can be answered without having read the study. We encourage you to structure your reply along the modules of this questionnaire. Where you want to comment on aspects in the study that do not directly fit into any specific part of the questionnaire, please do so in the section that is closest to the subject matter.