What You Need to Know About Standard Essential Patents

Abstract

In the past several years, standard essential patents, or “SEPs,” have exploded onto the scene. Courts and enforcement agencies around the world have grappled with the nuances they present. What exactly are SEPs? What do attorneys need to know about SEPs?

This article answers these questions. After presenting the setting in which SEPs arise, it addresses three issues: (1) injunctions; (2) antitrust enforcement (in the US, EU, China, India, and Germany); and (3) the determination of fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory (“FRAND”) royalties.

Keywords: Standard essential patents, SEPs, RAND, FRAND, antitrust, injunctions

JEL Classification: K21, L40, L41, L63, L86, O30, O31, O34, O38