European Commission Call for Evidence – New Framework for Standard Essential Patents

The Fair Standards Alliance submitted the following response as part of the European Commission’s consultation process on its Call for Evidence “Intellectual property – new framework for standard-essential patents”

FSA thanks the European Commission for its continued engagement on these important topics and for providing the opportunity to comment. The Commission’s New Framework for Standard Essential Patents policy initiative comes at a critical time for Europe’s strategic position in today’s increasingly digital and interconnected world. Standards play an increasingly important role across a broad range of sectors, including in new areas due to the rollout of 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT). It is all the more important that against this backdrop, the EU’s standardisation policy response is effective and focused. We are concerned that in recent years, the balance of the EU’s approach has shifted too much towards a small number of SEP-holders who are not representative of Europe’s commercial perspective. We therefore consider that the ongoing initiative presents an excellent opportunity to redress this balance.