On The Obligation To License Standard Essential Patents In The Supply And Exploitation Chain: Selection Right Of The SEP Holder vs. FRAND-Everyone’s Right
les Nouvelles - Journal of the Licensing Executives Society, Volume LV No. 4, December 2020
6 Pages Posted: 24 Jan 2021
Date Written: November 30, 2020
Abstract
With a landmark amicus curiae letter, the Bundeskartellamt has intervened in pending proceedings on the question of licensing essential standard patents (SEP) in the supply chain.1 The issue at stake is whether an SEP holder who has committed itself to a standardization organization to grant licenses on FRAND terms to any third party willing to license is abusing its dominant position in the sense of Art. 102 TFEU and Sections 18, 19 GWB if it refuses to license buyers (automotive suppliers) other than the level it has exclusively selected (car manufacturers) in the production chain and files infringement actions against the companies it has selected from another level of the same production chain (car manufacturers).
Keywords: License Standard, essential patents supply and exploitation chain, SEP holder, FRAND
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