Essentiality Checks for Potential SEPs
This study was drafted as part of an Impact Assessment Study, which was commissioned by the European Commission. The contract for the study was awarded to Iplytics GmbH after a call for proposals, based upon a proposal by a consortium consisting of lead researcher Dr. Justus Baron (Northwestern University), Dr. Tim Pohlmann (Iplytics and TU Berlin), Dr. Pere Arque-Castells (University of Groningen), Dr. Amandine Leonard (University of Edinburgh), and Dr. Eric Sergheraert (University of Lille and dartsip).
Within the framework of its contract with the European Commission, the consortium has produced two studies. The first study, “Empirical Assessment of Potential Challenges in SEP Licensing”, [‘Empirical Assessment’] was jointly drafted by the five members of the consortium, assisted by an advisory board. The present study was authored by lead researcher Dr. Justus Baron, in consultation with the European Commission. Both studies were prepared to provide possible inputs to the European Commission’s own Impact Assessment of potential policy options regarding Standard-Essential Patents (SEP). The studies are published simultaneously with the Commission’s Draft Regulation Proposal and Impact Assessment Report.
This study focuses on the impact assessment of potential policy options with respect to one specific policy issue, namely transparency regarding the actual essentiality of patents declared to be potentially standard-essential (declared SEPs) (‘SEP transparency’). This study does not include any assessment of possible regulatory actions on other policy issues falling within the scope of the Commission’s Impact Assessment Report. Nevertheless, policy choices regarding some of these other issues may have a moderating effect on the potential impacts of policy options with respect to SEP transparency, i.e. the potential impacts of some policy choices with respect to SEP transparency are likely to depend on policy choices with respect to these other issues. Where relevant, the present study attempts to account for these interdependencies by describing different scenarios, in which different policy options with respect to SEP transparency may have different impacts.
This study assesses three different policy options, which were defined by the European Commission. The five members of the consortium have participated in discussions regarding the definition of policy options; and for the purpose of carrying out an impact assessment, the author of this study has drafted descriptions with interpretations of each policy option. The policy options assessed in this study may differ from the options assessed by the European Commission in its Impact Assessment Report, as these policy options were revised and refined in parallel to the author’s work on this assessment. The assessments in this study are exclusively based on the policy options as they are described and interpreted in this study.
Read the Report
Need to Navigate the World of Standard Essential Patents and Standards’ Contributions?
Leverage transparent and accessible data for SEPs, Technical standards, and contribution data analysis to ensure the success of your patent portfolio with LexisNexis® IPlytics.