Title
A Market Reliance Theory for FRAND Commitments and Other Patent Pledges
Author
Jorge L. Contreras
Date
4/23/2014
(Original Publish Date: 2/3/2014)
(Original Publish Date: 2/3/2014)
Abstract
In the midst of today’s global smartphone wars, patent holders are making promises. They are promising, among other things, not to assert their patents against certain categories of products, such as open source code software, or to license them on terms that are “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory” (FRAND). And these promises are not being made in closed door negotiations, but in public fora, for the benefit of entire markets. I call these public, market-facing promises “patent pledges”, and they are beginning to dominate certain large and heavily litigated sectors of the global technology marketplace.