Approaches to influence the IPR policies and practices in US and Global standards setting

Approaches to influence the IPR policies and practices in US and Global standards setting

George T. , P.E Willingmyre, GTW Associates

1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 6/14/2002)

Standards strategists must trade off the benefits of a standard's reference to a company's proprietary technology against possible constraints on exploiting their intellectual property rights (IPRs). Participants in the development of a standard and eventual implementers of a standard deserve some assurance that there will be or are no unreasonable IPR licensing requirements to implement the standard. The sorting out of these conflicting objectives in the Intellectual Property Rights policies and procedures of various standards developing organizations is the current focus of significant private litigation and is receiving highlevel attention in government regulatory circles. FTC is investigating matters similar to the landmark FTC consent agreement with Dell Computer where FTC charged that Dell restricted competition in the personal computer industry and undermined the standard-setting process by threatening to exercise undisclosed patent rights against computer companies. Meanwhile the IPR policies of key global standards setting bodies adapt and evolve to meet the perceived needs of the users of the standards process. This article explores various approaches to influence on a global scale the IPR policies of key standards setting organizations.