March 14, 2022 | Insights from Experts

The U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the National Institute of Standards and Technology offered a Draft Revised Statement on remedies for the infringement of standards-essential patents (or SEPs) that are subject to a RAND or F/RAND licensing commitment. The agencies' view essentially reverses the previous administration's 2019 position that injunctions should be available to owners of standard-essential patents when those patents are infringed.

Prof. Daniel Spulber joined the more than 150 public comments that were submitted to weigh in on the Draft Policy Statement. In his comment, he expressed concern that the "Draft Statement risks damaging the carefully balanced system of technology standardization. This policy change would endanger economic incentives for invention, innovation, and technology standardization for United States companies. The result would be impairment of economic development and economic growth in the United States and reductions in international trade and investment opportunities for United States companies."

Prof. Spulber is a leading economist who has spent considerable time researching innovation, patents, and technology standards. He has published research on these topics in books and in leading journals in economics.

To view the full version submitted by Prof. Spulber, click the download link below.

Comments on Draft Policy Statement on Licensing Negotiations and Remedies for Standards-Essential Patents Subject to Voluntary F/RAND Commitments

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the authors, who are responsible for the content, and do not necessarily represent the views of Vega Economics. For more information about Prof. Spulber, please email experts@vegaeconomics.com.

Experts