ABG Intellectual Property is a leading Firm in Spain providing legal advice on the negotiation of license agreement of patent portfolios and, in particular, with regard to standard essential patents (SEP), which are concluded between the managers of licensing programs on SEP portfolios with the implementers who manufacture, import or sale devices embodying said technologies, mainly in the fields of electronics and telecommunications.
The obtention of rights through licenses for use of SEP is a key requirement to be able to commercialise devices making use of said technologies, such as 4G, 5G and WIFI. One of the key hurdles in the negotiation processes consists of setting the Price of the license, which has to be done on very specific terms, known through their acronym in English FRAND (Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory).
In this context, it is noteworthy that the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) have published their working documents CWA95000 and CWA17431, which contain a set of guidelines for the licensing of SEP and which have been prepared by said organizations together with relevant corporations operating in said industries in the EU. The purpose of these Guidelines is to offer policy approaches both to owners and managers of portfolios of SEP, and to implementers of standardized technologies, to facilitate the understanding of basic concepts and obligations of the parties when it comes to the negotiation of license agreements.
These guidelines shall provide the operators with an additional tool for the assessment of the price of licenses in FRAND terms. You can find more here.
| At ABG we have ample experience in the negotiation and drafting of these type of agreements. If you need advice you can contact us at legal@abg-ip.com or tradesecrets@abg-ip.com |
