On 27 April 2023, the European Commission published a proposal for a Regulation on Standard Essential Patents (SEPs).

The proposed regulation implies profound changes to the current SEP licensing and litigation system. Among others, it provides:

• a register of SEPs;
• a process for setting up aggregate royalty for a standard;
• a mechanism of essentiality checking of declared essential patents;
• a mandatory process for FRAND royalty determinations.

The regulation entrusts the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to establish a Competence centre that will carry out these tasks. The stated intention of the Regulation is to increase transparency and predictability of SEP licensing and reduce the length of disputes and litigation.

The webinar aims to bring together academics and industry experts to share their first impressions on the contents of the Regulation, and to evaluate the potential effects on SEP licensing practices and international collaborative standardisation in general.

In preparation of the seminar, you can read our latest blog post written by our Research Associate Niccolò Galli: The EC SEP Regulation Proposal: New Rules to be FRAND?