less ere aaoscan) estar Ped ese e cera) eee Cane eee eed ery Crea ae Oe Peer ean) ia Sans Ere Pontoon Re ney Med ars Eee ary Dele USA eee 32 7th Street USA ‘Mex Hong Kong PAPE errr Pega Peed Hong Kong EU warns of impact of IEEE's patent policy change Jurisdiction : - Europe /North America 27 Jan 15 | 23:08 GMT ‘Author: Leah Nylen and Lewis Crofts IN BRIEF ‘The European Commission and a US senator have warned of the “significant impact” of a potential change to the intellectual property rights policy of the standards organization IEEE. The European Commission and a US senator have warmed of the “significant impact” of a potential change to the intellectual property rights policy of the standards organization IEEE. In a Jan. 5 letter sent to Nokia, Gerard de Graaf, an official from the EU executive's department dealing with digital policy, commented on plans by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE, to change its intellectual property policy. US Senator Christopher Coons also expressed concerns about the plan to the Justice Department. The IEEE is a global organization based in New Jersey that sets some key Internet and Wi-Fi standards. It has proposed altering its intellectual property right policies to make it more difficult for patent holders to obtain injunctions on standard-essential patents. The proposed changes also would require holders to make their intellectual property available to component makers as opposed to only licensing to end- users, and to calculate patent royalties or damages based on the “smallest saleable unit.” In the commission’s letter, de Graaf stresses the regulator has been “advocating fair balance” between the owners and users of standard essential patents, ensuring that technology is available on fair terms. Last year, it took antitrust action against Samsung and Motorola Mobility over their use of patents. ‘The pending proposal to use the ‘‘smallest saleable” unit to calculate the patent holder’s rate “would constitute a change in the IEEE policy and ... such a policy may risk having a significant impact.” “We would expect that such a change, and its potential consequences for the standardization ecosystem, would be carefully examined before a decision would be taken to implement it,” the letter, copied to officials in the commission’s departments for competition and industrial policies, says.Mex penne Re eee) eee Eis acon a Weed) edge Rue de la Loi 6; eae) ele aa ree) Pe eon nCkS ro eed acs Ee cee Tonra aot USA eau) et ire eau Perea revere Peed Hong Kong It says that standard organizations should follow principles of “transparency, ‘openness, impartiality, consensus, efficiency, relevance and consistency. The proposed change has been approved at several levels within the IEEE, despite staunch opposition from companies that hold large patent portfolios, such as Qualcomm, Ericsson and Nokia. The IEEE’s board of directors, its main leadership body, is set to consider the policy change at a meeting on Feb. 5. The change is also contingent on receiving « favorable business review letter from the US Department of Justice, which has been considering the antitrust implications of the amendments at the request of IEEE since last fall. In a Jan. 14 letter to Attomey General Eric Holder and Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Bill Baer, Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, urged the DOJ to consult with other federal agencies and consider the potential impact on trade and other IP policies before issuing its review of the IEEE policy. “| am writing to express serious concerns about these proposed policy changes, which represent an unprecedented move by an international standards body to weaken the value and enforceability of patented technology,” Coons said. “My concern is that, without further consultation with trade and IP-related agencies, the time is not right for DOJ to give encouragement to policies that could undermine the rights and competitiveness of US inventors.” Although in the minority, Coons is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has oversight of the DOJ. Related case file(s) ETSI - ITU - IEEE - SEPs