Standard essential patents and court injunctions in the high tech sector under EU law after Huawei

Abstract

When companies agree on a standard, they agree to licence patents that are essential for that standard on “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory” (FRAND) terms. This is an obligation under competition law, to ensure that the agreement is lawful. The obligation means that a patent owner must offer FRAND terms, and may not seek an injunction against a user that is willing to accept FRAND terms, if necessary as decided by the court or an arbitrator. The article discusses the obligations of both parties, and the procedures for dealing with them in the light of the Huawei judgment.