Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/157263 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
WTO Staff Working Paper No. ERSD-2017-08
Publisher: 
World Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva
Abstract: 
The interplay between patents and standards in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector has been intensively debated at international, regional and national levels over the past decades. In essence, the debate is firstly about the extent and impact of patent holdup and holdout in the ICT sector, and then about how to eliminate or reduce these practices. While standard setting organizations (SSOs), industry bodies, as well as judicial and administrative authorities have made great efforts to solve the issue of patent holdup and holdout, there is still an ongoing struggle among divergent stakeholders. Patent holdup and holdout directly impacts the innovation and dissemination of patented technology, the harmonization and implementation of standards, and international trade, which are promoted by the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) and the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement). This working paper provides an overview of the current debate on patent holdup and holdout in the ICT sector, analyses existing policy measures and their limitations, and then highlights the relevance of the WTO to this debate.
Subjects: 
patent
patent holdup
patent holdout
standards
standard setting organizations
FRAND
competition
injunctions
royalties
WTO TRIPS
WTO TBT
JEL: 
K11
K13
K15
K30
O34
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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