SEP Patent Pool Licensing - Legal Perspectives on FRAND Compliance

This lecture will provide an in-depth exploration of the legal aspects of licensing SEPs through patent pools, focusing on the application of FRAND obligations in these arrangements. Patent pools, which consolidate multiple patents for easier licensing, present complex legal challenges, particularly regarding whether these pools are in compliance with FRAND standards.

The session will begin by examining key legal cases involving SEP patent pools, including Tesla v. InterDigital and Vestel v. Access Advance. These cases illustrate the challenges related to jurisdiction, the enforcement of FRAND commitments, and the determination of royalty rates. Specifically, the lecture will address whether patent pool administrators—who are not direct parties to the FRAND commitments—should still be bound by FRAND principles.

Additionally, the lecture will focus on the implications of judicial intervention in setting FRAND rates for patent pools. It will consider the varying approaches taken by different jurisdictions, such as the UK and the US, and highlight the risks of inconsistent legal outcomes in global patent pool licensing.

The lecture will conclude with a discussion on the impact of patent pool licensing on industry competition, focusing on the responsibility of patent pool administrators to ensure compliance with FRAND obligations. The session aims to provide valuable insights for legal professionals, policymakers, and academics interested in the development of intellectual property rights within standardized technologies.

Dr. Zhongchun is Associate Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor at the School of Law/School of Intellectual Property, Jinan University. Professor Zhong specializes in intellectual property law, antitrust law, and unfair competition law. In recent years, she has focused on legal issues related to the data sector and Standard Essential Patents (SEPs), making significant contributions in these fields. She is the principal investigator for the national social science project titled "Research on Difficult Issues in Digital Economy Competition Law" and has served as a core contributor in major judicial research projects sponsored by the Supreme People's Court, including studies on "China's Judicial Jurisdiction in Foreign-related Intellectual Property Disputes" (2020-2022), "Judicial Service and Guarantee for the Development of the Digital Economy," and "Legal Issues in SEP Licensing Terms." Professor Zhong also played a key role in formulating the "Antitrust Guidelines for Standard Essential Patents." In addition, as a legal expert, she has provided expert testimony in both Chinese and foreign courts in several high-profile international SEP litigation cases.

Lele Xu, an MPhil candidate at the University of Oxford, specializes in international patent policy with an empathy on the Global South. Her recent research examines Standard-Essential Patents (SEPs) and FRAND (Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory) framework. She highlights the often-overlooked challenges faced by small companies with limited R&D resources, as well as least-developed and developing countries in the Global South. By exploring how private companies collectively reshape the IP landscape beyond national borders, she critiques how the market invades the traditional regional-based IP systems and explores what an ideal legal FRAND framework could look like.