ITU Workshop on Standards and
Intellectual Property Rights
(IPR) Issues
Interplay between ICT
standardization and patents
Tomoko Miyamoto
Head, Patent Law Section
World Intellectual Property Organization
New Delhi, India, 19-20 December 2011
International
Telecommunication
Union
World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO)
A UN specialized agency
Promote protection of IP throughout the
world through cooperation among States
and in collaboration with other international
organizations
Develop a balanced and accessible
international intellectual property system
185 Member States
Headquarters in Geneva
New Delhi, India, 19-20 December 2011
International
Telecommunication
Union
What is a patent?
Exclusive
right
Publication
Patents
Inspire 3rd parties
Incentives
Inventions
New ideas
• Exclusive right to prevent others from using the invention
without patent holder’s consent during the linited period of
time
• Territorial right – No global patents
International
Telecommunication
Union
Patents and standards
?
Patents
Standards
Exclusive
rights
Wide
implementation
?
International
Telecommunication
Union
Patents and standards
Common objectives
Patents
Standards
Encourage investment in innovation (R&D)
Disclosure of technological information
Dissemination of technology
Standardization is one of the “patent exploitation
processes” to realize a supranormal return
International
Telecommunication
Union
Patents and standards
Potential conflicts
Standards
Essential
patents
$
$
$
$
$
Licensing royalties
Standard implementers
- Wide implementation of standards
- Legitimate exploitation of patents
International
Telecommunication
Union
Statistics
Global (World Intellectual Property Indicators)
- The largest numbers of patent applications were
filed in computer technology, electrical machinery and
telecommunications (each field accounts for more than
5% of all applications).
- Applications in computer technology and digital
communication saw high annual growth rates from
2003 to 2007 (11.00% and 9.60%, respectively).
India: Annual Report 2009-10 by the Office of CGPDTM
Computer/Electronics
2007/08
2008/09
2009/10
No. of patent applications
4842
7063
7646
No. of patents
1357
1913
1195
International
Telecommunication
Union
Issues
Potential increase with the number of patents
IPR policies of
SDOs
Patent system
- Quality of patents
- Up-to-date patent
status information
- Patenting speed,
standardization
speed and tech.
dev.
(& market) speed
Enhanced transparency and predictability
International
Telecommunication
Union
WIPO Standing Committee on
the Law of Patents (SCP)
“Patents and standards” discussed in 2009-2010
Preliminary study on patents and standards
(document SCP/13/2)
http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/details.jsp?meeting_id=17448
- Illustrate and contextualize current issues
Discussions
- Multi-disciplinary, cross-cutting issues
- Importance of striking a balance among different
stakeholders
- Concerns about competition issues
International
Telecommunication
Union
SCP – Quality of patents
Quality of patents
- Substantive patentability
- Procedural improvement, quality control and
Quality Management System (QMS)
- Within/outside Patent Offices
- Accuracy of decisions/ Validity of patents/
Timeliness
- Law/ Best practices/Infra /Training
Three proposals on the table
International
Telecommunication
Union
Transparency between patents
and standards
WIPO: PATENTSCOPE
- Digitization of national patent applications
- PCT applications: national phase entry data
- Digitization of national patent registry
– easier access to legal status information
Using open technical information derived from the
standardization process for patent examination
– patent quality
International
Telecommunication
Union
WIPO Arbitration & Mediation Center
http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms
to litigation
- Resolution of commercial disputes between
private parties
- Party autonomy and confidentiality
- Often simpler, more cost effective
- A single procedure for resolving multijurisdictional disputes
WIPO/AMC supports adaptation of ADR Rules for
specific sectors
1/3 from ICT, many relate to licensing disputes
International
Telecommunication
Union
Thank you
Tomoko.miyamoto@wipo.int
International
Telecommunication
Union
http://www.pluspets.net/love-dogs-cats/