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Sector - Competition/antitrust
Security concerns about Huawei could adversely affect many more than just one company
Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) agreed this week to cross-license operations support systems (OSS) technology. The proposed deal signifies a major commitment to cooperation between the companies – but it could yet be derailed by concerns in the US and Europe over national security and anti-competitive practices. The three signed a memorandum of understanding earlier this week with a view to jointly utilising the systems they have to manage multi-vendor ...
Posted by Jack Ellis, IAM Magazine on 17 May 2013 @ 4:03PM
FRAND is a two way street - both sides in a negotiation have to want to play ball
It’s no surprise that the European Commission has today issued a preliminary opinion that in seeking and enforcing an injunction “against Apple in Germany on the basis of its mobile phone standard-essential patents ("SEPs")” Motorola Mobility was potentially abusing a dominant position. Whatever it says, the Commission’s competition regulator has shown time and again that it has a deep distrust of patents and will always look for ways in which their ...
Posted by Joff Wild, IAM Magazine on 06 May 2013 @ 5:07PM
Now that it has been defeated on FRAND, Google must find other ways to leverage SEPs
A Seattle district court hearing a standards-essential patent (SEP) dispute between Microsoft and Google-owned Motorola Mobility has set a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licence fee for Moto’s SEPs relating to the H.264 video codec and IEEE 802.11 wifi standards. The royalty rates fixed by the court are expected to provide a framework for deciding upon FRAND licence fees in future SEP disputes. But while the court’s decision may present a setback for ...
Posted by Jack Ellis, IAM Magazine on 26 April 2013 @ 12:48PM
Ramifications of the Myriad gene patent case could reach far beyond medical diagnostics
The US Supreme Court this week heard oral arguments in Association for Molecular Pathology v Myriad Genetics. The case, which concerns the patentability of human genetic material, could have serious implications for innovators in the biotechnology industry and their ability to secure investment – and patent owners in other sectors should also pay close attention to the outcome. Back in May 2009 the Public Patent Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit ...
Posted by Jack Ellis, IAM Magazine on 18 April 2013 @ 2:45PM
Royalty-free licensing may benefit Google while putting others at a disadvantage
Several domain names registered last week offer further hints that Google may be planning to offer its patents for licensing on a royalty-free basis. The registration of openpatentpledge.com, openpatentpledge.net, openpatentpledge.org and opnpledge.com by the US company follows its call for comments on a variety of types of defensive licence, as reported by IAM earlier this month. Of course, companies frequently secure domain names that, for whatever reason, they do not end up using, ...
Posted by Jack Ellis, IAM Magazine on 26 March 2013 @ 1:03PM
Patent thickets are an opportunity, not a hindrance
The European Patent Office (EPO) yesterday released findings from an investigation into the potential effect of patent thickets on market entry. The study suggests that improvements in patent quality, better dissemination of information and greater market transparency could remove much of the complexity associated with patent thickets. But are they really that much of a problem? It has been argued that patent thickets – perceived over-accumulations of patents covering similar ...
Posted by Jack Ellis, IAM Magazine on 14 March 2013 @ 9:57AM
"Global regulator-in-chief" proposes changes to EU licensing regime
One to put in the “Should Have Noticed This Earlier And Alerted Readers To It” file. On 20th February the European Commission announced that it was inviting comments relating to revisions of the Technology Transfer Block Exemption, the current version of which is due to expire in April 2014. The TTBE has been in force in the EU since 2004 and sets out the circumstances under which the parties to a licensing agreement covering patents, know-how and/or software in Europe can ...
Posted by Joff Wild, IAM Magazine on 04 March 2013 @ 4:51PM
The great Intel/Moto patent deal mystery - more details emerge
Last week this blog carried news of reports from India about a decision made by the country’s competition authority to give approval to a proposed purchase of certain Motorola assets by Intel. The Competition Commission of India has now published its decision. There is not much more in terms of information about the transaction, but uinless the CCI has got things completely wrong it does seem as if some kind of deal does exist. The relevant sections are 1, 2 and 6: 1. On ...
Posted by Joff Wild, IAM Magazine on 05 February 2013 @ 9:31AM
After missing out on Nortel patents, Intel could get a slice of Google’s Moto portfolio
According to news stories coming out of India last week, the country’s Competition Commission (CCI) has given the green light to a sale by Motorola Mobility of assets – including patents – to Intel. The Economic Times reports that Intel and Google-owned Moto entered into an asset purchase agreement in December and subsequently approached the CCI for approval, which has now been granted. The Times says that Intel will acquire “certain assets of Motorola Mobility ...
Posted by Jack Ellis, IAM Magazine on 29 January 2013 @ 11:54AM
If Steve Jobs did threaten Palm with patent war over staff hires it would be no surprise
This week it emerged that Steve Jobs told his counterpart at Palm that Apple might consider filing patent suits against the erstwhile wireless device manufacturer unless it agreed to refrain from tapping-up Apple employees for its own workforce. The threat was revealed during an ongoing antitrust suit brought against Apple, Google, Intel and a number of other high-tech companies by ex-employees, who contend that the firms colluded to restrict the movement of workers between them. As ...
Posted by Jack Ellis, IAM Magazine on 25 January 2013 @ 10:00AM
