After the recent flurry of standard-essential patent (SEP) news, which also involved a half-dozen of noteworthy settlements (November 1, 2024 ip fray article), ip fray‘s founder had the opportunity to discuss alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for SEPs with three distinguished guests. In alphabetical order of first name:
- Christian Loyau, until recently Director of Legal & Governance at ETSI and already previously involved with the drafting of the ETSI IPR Policy;
- Heike Wollgast, head of the IP Disputes Section of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center; and
- Richard Vary, partner of Bird&Bird and formerly head of litigation at Nokia, with vast experience not only in traditional litigation but also arbitration and mediation.
In approximately 50 minutes, the panel discussed what ADR options exist in connection with SEPs (no shortage of them, let’s put it that way) and what benefits they offer, discussing use cases ranging from the need for an IoT startup to work out licensing terms with a SEP holder to licensing negotiations between large and sophisticated players.
There are valuable insights on ADR for SEPs that may benefit
- disputants interested in their options,
- attorneys advising clients on SEP ADR options and
- policy makers evaluating the best way forward with respect to SEP licensing and enforcement.
As mentioned in the introductory part of the podcast itself, this production has been supported by Ericsson, but produced independently.
You can find the podcast on Spotify (link).