Abstract
The telecom sector has been a pivotal force behind India’s digital transformation. Surge in data consumption and rapid adoption of new technologies continue to redefine connectivity and engagement dynamics in India. As the largest data consumer and the second largest smartphone market, India is carving out a new digital identity globally. At the same time such a digital transformation has been brought by innovative companies who wish to be compensated for their efforts, often via licensing. The first part of this paper will explain the impact of standardization on the Indian market. The second part will focus on the key role of an effective patent enforcement system in balancing standardisation contributors and implementers’ interests. On this regard, the paper analyses the changing patent landscape in India. It follows a brief review of the Indian jurisprudence relating to patents essential to a technical standard. Third, the paper will identify some of the main strengths and obstacles of the patent litigation system in this particular field, including some concrete proposals or suggestions for improvement in the latter. Finally, the paper will sketch some general conclusions.
Highlights
It is clear that the adoption of FRAND licensing and a standardisation process based on transparency, impartiality, openness and consensus has led the Indian market to open up, removing many entry barriers
With balanced Intellectual Property Right (IPR) policies, India could become further engaged and participating in developing technology standards with a similar development as we have seen in other countries
If we look at reports showing the patent distribution for top patent holders of 4G-LTE patents published in 2012, we identify companies from different countries among the main contributors, which have been careful of fostering IP [56]
Summary
There are 7.8 billion mobile subscribers. Nearly 15% of the mobile subscribers are from India. As of June 2018, India has the second largest telecom network in the world, with around 1.20 billion subscribers by December 2018 [3] Reasons for such a paramount revolution are, among others, the increasing broadband and internet penetration, exponential data uptake, the Government’s focus on digitalization and the increasing trend of technology adoption across industries [4]. India has the lowest call charges in the world, and the largest growth of subscribers, due to the diligence of the telecom operators on the one hand and the lowest mobile termination charges (MTC) rates [5] coupled with the calling party pays (CPP) regime [6]. The Indian Government released the National Digital Communication Policy in 2018 that encourages developing patents essential to the standards in the field of digital telecommunication technologies [10], besides creating a high level 5G committee
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