This file was created by the TYPO3 extension bib --- Timezone: UTC Creation date: 2024-10-09 Creation time: 23-29-49 --- Number of references 1 article Jakobs_2023_3 European Intellectual Property Review 2023 7 45 7 371-375 It has long been recognized in Europe and elsewhere that standards-development organizations (SDOs) may adopt policies that require their participants to license patents essential to the SDO’s standards (standards-essential patents or SEPs) to manufacturers of standardized products (“implementers”) on a royalty-free (RF) basis. This requirement contrasts with SDO policies that permit SEP holders to charge implementers monetary patent royalties, sometimes on terms that are specified as “fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory” (FRAND). As demonstrated by two decades of intensive litigation around the world, FRAND royalties have given rise to intractable disputes regarding the manner in which such royalties should be calculated and adjudicated. In contrast, standards distributed on an RF basis are comparatively free from litigation and the attendant transaction costs. Accordingly, numerous SDOs around the world have adopted RF licensing policies and many widely adopted standards, including Bluetooth, USB, IPv6, HTTP, HTML and XML, are distributed on an RF basis. This note briefly discusses the commercial considerations surrounding RF standards, the relationship between RF standards and open source software (OSS) and the SDO policy mechanisms – including “universal reciprocity” -- that enable RF licensing to succeed in the marketplace. 0142-0461 10.2139/ssrn.4235647 1 JorgeContreras RudiBekkers BradBiddle EnricoBonadio Michael A.Carrier BernardChao CharlesDuan RichardGilbert JoachimHenkel ErikHovenkamp MartinHusovec KaiJakobs Dong-hyuKim Mark A.Lemley Brian J.Love LukeMcDonagh Fiona M.Scott Morton JasonSchultz TimothySimcoe Jennifer M.Urban Joy YXiang