PATENT CHALLENGES
FOR STANDARD-SETTING
in the Global Economy
LESSONS FROM INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
Committee on Intellectual Property
Management in Standard-Setting Processes
Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy
Policy and Global Affairs
Keith Maskus, Editor
Stephen A. Merrill, Editor
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. 2010-140-113 between the National Academy of Sciences and the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-29312-9
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-29312-X
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Cover: The cover image of the Rubik’s Cube® is used by permission of Seven Towns Ltd. www.rubiks.com. The organizational logos are used by permission of the American National Standards Institute, European Patent Office, European Telecommunication Standards Institute, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards, United States Patent and Trademark Office and the World Wide Web Consortium which were among the institutions participating in the information-gathering phase of the study. None of these organizations has reviewed or endorsed this report.
Copyright 2013 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.
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COMMITTEE ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT IN STANDARD-SETTING PROCESSES
Keith Maskus, Chair, Professor of Economics, University of Colorado at Boulder
Rudi Bekkers, Assistant Professor of Economics of Innovation and Technical Change, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands
Marc Sandy Block, IP Law Counsel, IBM Corporation
Jorge Contreras, Associate Professor, Washington College of Law, American University
Richard J. Gilbert, Emeritus Professor of Economics, Professor of the Graduate School, University of California, Berkeley
David J. Goodman, Presidential Fellow and Professor Emeritus, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of NYU
Amy Marasco, General Manager for Standards, Strategy and Policy, Microsoft Corporation
Timothy Simcoe, Assistant Professor of Strategy and Innovation, School of Management, Boston University
Oliver Smoot, Past President, International Standards Organization
Richard Suttmeier, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, University of Oregon
Andrew Updegrove, Founding Partner, Gesmer Updegrove, LLP
Project Staff
Stephen A. Merrill, Study Director
Aqila Coulthurst, Program Coordinator
Cynthia Getner, Financial Officer
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BOARD ON SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND ECONOMIC POLICY (STEP)
For the National Research Council (NRC), this project was overseen by the Board on Science, Technology and Economic Policy (STEP), a standing board of the NRC established by the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering and the Institute of Medicine in 1991. The mandate of the STEP Board is to advise federal, state, and local governments and inform the public about economic and related public policies to promote the creation, diffusion, and application of new scientific and technical knowledge to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the U.S. economy and foster economic prosperity for all Americans. The STEP board and its committees marshal research and the expertise of scholars, industrial managers, investors, and former public officials in a wide range of policy areas that affect the speed and direction of scientific and technological change and their contributions to the growth of the U.S. and global economies. Results are communicated through reports, conferences, workshops, briefings and electronic media subject to the procedures of the National Academies to ensure their authoritativeness, independence, and objectivity.
Paul Joskow (Chair), President, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Ernst Berndt, Louis E. Seley Professor in Applied Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jeff Bingaman, Former Senator, New Mexico, U.S. Senate
Ralph J. Cicerone (ex-officio), President, National Academy of Sciences
Ellen Dulberger, Managing Partner, Ellen Dulberger Enterprises, LLC
Harvey V. Fineberg (ex-officio), President, Institute of Medicine
Alan Garber, Provost, Harvard University
Ralph Gomory, Research Professor, Stern School of Business, New York University
John Hennessy, President, Stanford University
William H. Janeway, Partner, Warburg Pincus
Richard Lester, Japan Steel Industry Professor, Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
David Morgenthaler, Founding Partner, Morgenthaler Ventures
Luis M. Proenza, President and Chief Executive Officer, University of Akron
William J. Raduchel, Independent Director and Investor
Kathryn L. Shaw, Ernest C. Arbuckle Professor of Economics, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
Laura D’Andrea Tyson, S.K. and Angela Chan Professor of Global Management, Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley
Hal Varian, Chief Economist, Google, Inc.
Dan Mote (ex-officio), President, National Academy of Engineering
Alan Wm. Wolff, Senior Counsel, McKenna, Long & Aldridge LLP
Staff
Stephen A. Merrill, Executive Director
Charles W. Wessner, Program Director
Sujai Shivakumar, Senior Program Officer
Paul Beaton, Program Officer
McAlister Clabaugh, Program Officer
David Dierksheide, Program Officer
Aqila Coulthurst, Program Coordinator
Cynthia Getner, Financial Associate
Preface
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2011 asked the National Academies’ Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) to examine and report on the role of patents in standard-setting processes in an international context. For the STEP program, this charge represented the confluence of its long-standing interests in the standards system on the one hand and intellectual property policy on the other hand. The Board’s very first consensus study, in response to a congressional mandate, resulted in the report, Standards, Conformity Assessment, and Trade (National Research Council, 1995). And in 2001, STEP initiated a series of studies of the patent system whose products included Patents in the Knowledge-Based Economy (National Research Council, 2003), A Patent System for the 21st Century (National Research Council, 2004), Reaping the Benefits of Genomic and Proteomic Research: Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation, and Public Health (National Research Council, 2006), and Managing University Intellectual Property in the Public Interest (National Research Council, 2010). STEP Board recommendations strongly influenced the America Invents Act, enacted in 2011 the first major revision of U.S. patent law in more than half a century.
The present project was approved by the Academies’ Governing Board Executive Committee with the following charge:
An ad hoc committee under the auspices of The National Academies' Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy (STEP) will examine and assess how leading national, regional, and multinational standards bodies address issues of intellectual property (IP) arising in connection with the development of technical standards. Through commissioned analysis, a public workshop in Washington and a report of the findings of an expert committee, the project will first document the policies and practices of different types of standard-setting organizations in different geographical contexts. The committee will consider policies with respect to such matters as requirements for the disclosure of IP essential or relevant to the development and implementation of standards, the terms of IP licensing to implementers of a standard, and whether conditions attached to
IP incorporated in standards carry over to a new holder in the event of a transfer of IP rights. The study will assess how these policies work in practice and in a legal context and how variations in these policies relate to different types of standards activities, organizations, and fields of technology. Second, the project will evaluate the effectiveness of these policies in reducing conflict between IP holders and other implementers, balancing the interests of firms of different sizes and with different business models, and balancing the interests of producers and consumers.
A committee comprised of academic economists and social scientists, legal scholars, standards professionals, and technologists was appointed by the Academies to address the charge. The committee met four times in the course of preparing this report. At the first meeting, we received written submissions from or heard oral presentations by individuals from government, industry, and the standards community. We commissioned a study of the IPR policies of a carefully selected sample of national and international SSOs, which was carried out by two members of the study committee, Rudi Bekkers, Eindhoven University of Technology and Andrew Updegrove, Gesmer Updegrove, L.L.P.1 Next the committee planned and held a two-day symposium, Management of Intellectual Property in Standard-Setting Processes, in Washington, D.C., on October 3-4, 2012, with invited presentations on a variety of topics addressed in this report (Appendix B; presentations available at http://sites.nationalacademies.org/PGA/step/PGA_072825). The symposium also provided an opportunity for interested members of the public to express their views. The committee is grateful to all of these contributors to its deliberations.
Our study has been carried out in a dynamic environment. Just in the last few months there have been discussions in numerous SSOs about changes to their IPR policies, new pronouncements from government competition authorities on both sides of the Atlantic, hearings in both houses of Congress, court decisions in high-profile legal suits, and a new articulation of China’s policy with respect to “national standards.” For the most part, we have taken account of the most important developments through preparation of our report for external review in May 2013. The high profile decision of the United States International Trade Commission in Apple v. Samsung that was subsequently overturned by the United States Trade Representative occurred as the committee deliberated its responses to reviewer comments, and the committee could not ignore the relevance of the case’s outcomes to its recommendation regarding the availability of injunctive relief to holders of standard-essential patents who have undertaken to license them on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. Apart from this exception, the committee recognizes that both the intellectual property and standards landscapes are changing and will continue to change in ways that the report does not address.
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The committee’s recommendations represent a consensus of views, but not every member agrees with every formulation. In one instance, majority and minority views are presented. As with any Academy report, the views expressed are personal and do not necessarily represent the views of members’ employers. Despite the heterogeneity of SSOs, the committee’s recommendations addressed to standards developers are stated in general terms. The committee recognizes that each organization should and will consider the appropriateness of our advice for its own circumstances and seek its own counsel.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Academies’ Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.
We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Alden Abbott, Research In Motion; Andrew Brown, Delphi Corporation; Gary Calabrese, Corning Global Research; Dieter Ernst, East West Center; Patricia Griffin, American National Standards Institute; Irwin Jacobs, Qualcomm; Konstantinos Karachalios, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association; Earl Nied, Intel; Joshua Sarnoff, DePaul University; Carl Shapiro, University of California, Berkeley; Andrew Torrance, University of Kansas; and Dirk Weiler, European Telecommunications Standards Institute.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Samuel H. Fuller, Analog Devices, Inc. Appointed by the National Academies, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Keith E. Maskus, Chair
Committee on Intellectual Property
Management in Standard-Setting Processes
Stephen A. Merrill, Study Director
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Contents
1.1 Role of Standards and Patented Technology in Standards
1.2 Standards and Patents in ICT and Emerging Technologies
1.4 Statement of Task and Organization of the Report
1.6 Standardization in the ICT Setting
1.7 Stakeholders in Standard-Setting
1.8 International and Multilateral Issues
2. A COMPARISON OF SSO POLICIES AND PRACTICES
2.1 SSOs Surveyed for the Study
2.4 SSO Approaches to Basic IPR Issues
2.5 Transfers of Licensing Commitments
3. KEY ISSUES FOR SSOS IN SEP LICENSING
3.2 Objectives of FRAND Licensing Obligations
3.3 Interpretation of FRAND Obligations to Address Competition and Efficiency Concerns
4. SEP DISCLOSURE AND INFORMATION TRANSPARENCY
4.1 Disclosure as an Element of SSO IPR Policies
4.2 The Possible Roles of Information Disclosure
4.4 The Timing of Disclosures in Relation to Licensing Commitment Procedures
5. TRANSFERS OF PATENTS WITH LICENSING COMMITMENTS
5.2 Cases Regarding Continuing License Commitments
5.3 SSO Approaches to Sustaining Licensing Commitments
5.4 Recommendations for SSOs and Policymakers
6. INJUNCTIVE RELIEF FOR SEPS SUBJECT TO FRAND
6.2 Views of Competition Regulators
6.3 U.S. and European Case Law
6.5 Recommendations to SSOs Courts and Government Agencies
7. PATENT OFFICE-SSO COOPERATION
7.1 Origins and Scope of Information Sharing
7.2 Benefits and Costs of Information Sharing
7.3 Legal Status of Standards Information
7.4 Relevance of the European Experience to the USPTO
7.5 Recommendations to the USPTO and SSOs
8. IPR STANDARDS AND EMERGING ECONOMIES
