A Standard Essential Patent is the name given to a patent which protects technology that has been selected for use in a standard. Patented inventions that must necessarily be used when implementing a cellular communication standard are “essential” to that standard and should be made available for use under a patent licence on a Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) basis by their owners.
Courts, commentators, and companies have devoted enormous time and energy to the problem of standard-essential patents (SEPs) – patents that cover (or at least are claimed to cover) industry standards. With billions of dollars at stake, there has been a great deal of litigation and even more lobbying and writing about problems such as how, if at all, standard-setting organizations (SSOs) should limit enforcement of patent rights, whether a promise to license SEPs on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms is enforceable in court or in arbitration, what a FRAND royalty is, and whether a refusal to comply with a FRAND commitment violates antitrust law.