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Global Standards Leadership Conference 2026

June 18, 2026 | University of San Diego | C-level executives and industry experts explored SEP licensing, FRAND determination, litigation trends, and how AI and next-generation standards are shaping innovation.

“Screens with program code moving as in a mainframe. Reporting the similar idea of technology, computers, Internet, data or other subjects.”

The standards and SEP ecosystem moved into its next phase.

For the fifth year in a row, the Global Standards Leadership Conference brought together experts from business, law, policy, technology, and academia to discuss the most pressing challenges facing standards and SEP strategy.

Across the keynote, litigation trends session, fireside chat, and four panels, three priorities came through clearly: data transparency, essentiality and valuation, and FRAND licensing and rate setting.

Read the 2026 Recap

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The conversations that defined 2026

Across the day, a clear theme emerged: SEP strategy is being reshaped by AI, global enforcement, new licensing models, and standards ecosystems that now span content, data centers, memory, and satellite-enabled connectivity.

FRAND has moved from theory to execution.

Global disputes now turn on comparable licenses, adjustments for commercial distortions, complete contractual terms, and credible forums for multi-jurisdictional rate setting. Arbitration is gaining momentum, but transparency and predictability remain unresolved.

Streaming licensing is about value allocation.

The streaming market is pushing SEP licensing beyond devices. The core question is how codec value should be shared across devices, networks, platforms, infrastructure, and content, with patent pools adapting more flexible usage- and subscription-based models.

AI infrastructure is the next SEP frontier.

AI workloads are turning data-center infrastructure into a standards-driven ecosystem. Memory, interconnects, networking, storage, optics, cooling, power, and manufacturing all create new licensing questions as open standards accelerate.

6G is becoming an AI-native platform.

The road to 6G is about connectivity, sensing, and distributed computing, with satellites, hyperscalers, AI companies, and cloud providers joining traditional telecom players in standards development.

Event Recap: A day in San Diego

Hosted at the University of San Diego Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice, the 2026 program opened with AI and global litigation trends before moving into focused discussions on FRAND, streaming media, AI infrastructure, DRAM memory standards, and the road to 6G.

Agenda RECAP

A day in San Diego

Topics and speakers from the 2026 Global Standards Leadership Conference, updated with themes from the recap.

Opening / Welcome Remarks

Tim Pohlmann opened the day with a keynote on AI and the future of SEP analysis, emphasizing that LLMs can support essentiality work but still require human expertise, validation, and scrutiny.

Market Context / Global Patent Litigation Trends

Kirti Gupta mapped the globalization of patent disputes, highlighting the UPC, China, emerging litigation venues, telecommunications disputes, and AI as a growing frontier for IP enforcement.

Panel Session 1 / Global SEP Disputes and FRAND Frameworks

Justus Baron, Jon Putnam, John Jarosz, Richard Pinckney, and Ryan Cunningham examined comparable licenses, top-down analyses, arbitration, and the practical challenge of building consistent global FRAND outcomes.

Panel Session 2 / Streaming Media SEP Licensing: From Device-Level Licensing to Usage-Based Licensing

Kirti Gupta, Clay Gaetje, Shayne O’Reilly, John Pint, and Jon Chow explored streaming litigation, codec value, content economics, patent pools, and how licensing models are adapting beyond device-level royalties.

Fireside Chat / AI Infrastructure – The Next SEP Battlefield

Willy Chang and Tim Pohlmann discussed how data-center infrastructure, memory, interconnects, networking, storage, and other AI stack technologies are becoming a new standards-driven licensing ecosystem.

Panel Session 3 / SEP Licensing for DRAM Memory Standards

Tim Pohlmann, Tom Pease, Jerome Ma, Michael Rueckheim, and Kerry Kimes discussed HBM demand, memory bottlenecks, patent pools, and the licensing levels that may define DRAM’s next phase.

Panel Session 4 / Emerging 4G/5G Cellular Verticals on the Road to 6G

Micky Minhas, Shahrokh Nayeb Nazar, Kent Baker, Emil Zhang, and Nandan Das explored 6G as a platform for AI-enabled connectivity, satellite integration, sensing, edge computing, and new industry verticals.

SPEAKERS

Voices from Global Standards Leadership Conference

Experts from FRAND, licensing, litigation, patent pools, standards development, streaming media, AI infrastructure, wireless technology, and economic analysis shaped the 2026 discussion.

Justus Baron

Founder, FRANDLY and BRELA