Articles

N&M Consultancy

Public Consultation on Patents and Standards

In 2013, DG Enterprise and Industry of the European Commission commissioned a fact-finding study on the issue of patents and standards. This fact-finding study analysed the rules and practices developed to ensure the efficient licensing of standard-related patents. It also covered barriers to efficient licensing and recommendations from stakeholders on dealing with these barriers. In October 2014, the Commission launched a Public Consultation on Patents and Standards. The purpose of the consultation was to allow stakeholders interested in standards that involve patents to provide their views on (1) how the framework governing the application of standards patents performs, and (2) how it should evolve to ensure that standardisation is efficient and adaptive to a fast-changing economic and technological environment.

In February 2015, N&M submitted Responses and Submissions to the Public Consultation to DG Enterprise and Industry, a copy of which may be downloaded here.

N&M Handbook on the Operation of the ETSI Interim IPR Policy (first published 1995)

In 1995, N&M published a Handbook on the Operation of the ETSI Interim IPR Policy, and 20 years on, the telecommunications industry has undergone huge change. We have decided to re-print the Handbook as we thought it would be of general interest to those involved in the standardisation process today. Some aspects of the implementation of ETSI’s IPR policies have moved on and some have been successful; some have not…..

A copy of the handbok is available for download here. Annexes 1-3 here. Annexes 4-7 here.  Annexes 8-14 here.