Standard Essential Patents(SEPs)

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We bring you Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) Search Service, where we combine the expertise of our seasoned professionals with the cutting-edge power of AI technology to bring you unmatched assistance in discovering undiscovered SEPs within your portfolio. Avoid the risks of using standard/non-core technologies and unknowingly infringing SEP without licensing, by allowing us to identify and mitigate those risks for you.

Our Methodology

SEP Licensing

SEP Licensing

SEP Essentiality Check

SEP (Essenciality Check)

Undeclared Standard Related Patents Extraction & Analysis

SEP (Essentiality Check)

Why Choose TT Consultants for Standard Essential Patent Search?

  • One-stop standard repository – XLSCOUT, which correlates patents, standard contributions, and SEPs 
  • Collated comprehensive dataset including standards, meeting contributions and Emails of 10+ SSOs 
  • Hybrid essentiality check backed with subject matter expert analysis 
  • AI-Driven first cut analysis 
  • Extremely qualified engineers with experience in a wide range of technology standards developed by various Standard Setting Organizations (SSOs) 
  • In-house repository for extracting data related to SEPs like meeting documents, drafts, submissions, etc.  
  • We prioritize your needs and goals throughout the search process, providing personalized service and support 
  • Fast and cost-effective SEP analyses with precise results by our skilled team and top-quality data. 
  • Identify optimal R&D investment opportunities through our comprehensive analysis, benchmarking, and evaluation. 
  • Strong assertion strategies by assessing portfolio and competitor strengths/weaknesses, evidence of use, and standards essentiality. 

Our Services

Essentiality check for a pool of SEP candidates

The Standard Setting Organizations (SSO) don’t determine the essentiality of patents, these disputes typically visit trial wherein a courtroom decides the essentiality of a patent. The patents are often grouped together, so licensees pay considerable Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) licensing fees. Unfortunately, not all of those patents qualify as SEPs. Performing an effective essentiality check can be hard to achieve because of the complexity of patent claims and their relationship with standards. 
TT Consultants has collected worldwide standards datasets of various SSOs and developed search tools that facilitate the search for patented subject matter in declared standards to check the essentiality of a SEP pool. 

Discover undeclared SEPs concealed in your IP portfolio

Many enterprises, especially those owning huge patent portfolios, are unaware about potential SEP patents concealed in their portfolio. Many times, possible SEPs are missed and never reach its SEP declaration stage.  The company suffers a great loss due to this negligence by losing thousands, which they could earn in SEPs licensing fees each year. Hence, it is very critical to identify the missed SEPs by proper review of the portfolio. We here at TT Consultants follow various effective methodologies like deeper evaluation of technical description in order to overrule the chance of missing any possible SEP. The standards are always updating, which is another challenge, so our time performs a vigilant search of these updated standards so that nothing slips away from our hands. 

Identify the latest version of standard mapping on your SEP

Standards are updated on a regular basis, so the service involves critical analysis of updated versions of standard specifications overlapping with features of the claim. Patents that map to a standard are extremely valuable since all items that comply with the standard are valued. So, TT Consultants is very conscious of providing a high-quality service for such high a value matter. We have our in-house database, which holds latest data related to various standard specifications along with  an extremely talented team which performs a comprehensive digging on SSOs websites for locating the updated data. ​

Knockout predatory SEP(s) & save licensing cost

In view of the complexity of standard technologies and the abundance of information, it is quite difficult to identify prior arts for SEP patents. ​

We have developed a repository of the entire standard dataset technical specifications, change requests, meeting docs, etc., and made it searchable using advanced search operators.​

Claim chart preparation for SEP patents

We assist clients in preparing a solid claim chart that entails a thorough mapping of claims to the relevant standard. ​

Our domain experts create strong claim charts to ascertain the overlap of the standard technology with the patented subject matter. 

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FAQs

What is a standard-essential patent (SEP)?​

A standard essential patent (SEP) is a patent that claims an invention that is essential to a standard. These standards frequently refer to technologies which are protected under the patent regime.​

 

Standards are technical requirements or specifications that seek to provide a common design for a product or process.

 

Patents which are essential to a standard and have been adopted by a Standard Setting Organization (SSO) are known as SEPs.

 

In short, A standard essential patent (SEP) is a patent which can be properly mapped onto a mandatory industry standard such that a product which conforms to that standard infringes the patent.​

What are standard-essential patents examples?​

Examples include USB, Wi-Fi, wireless charging, 5G, LTE, H.265, and JPEG.​

Why are standard-essential patents important?​

Patents provide incentives for research, development and facilitate knowledge transfers and standards ensure the rapid diffusion of technologies and the interoperability between products.​

How do standard-essential patents work?​

A standard essential patent starts out as a typical patent and becomes essential to a given standard usually when it is declared to be essential by one of the contributing participants of the standard.​

What is over-declaration in SEPs?​

Over-declaration happens when a patent owner asserts that patents are essential to a standard, but the standard can be implemented without implicating the patents. This can result in companies negotiating and paying for licenses for which they don’t need to pay, and can have the effect of causing companies to overpay.​

Which organization sets FRAND license terms for SEPs in India?​

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)​

What are the major issues involved in SEP litigation?​

  • Patent holdup​
  • Royalty base​
  • Royalty stacking​
  • Availability of injunctive relief

What is FRAND?​

As part of the standard-setting process, and sometimes as part of the process of declaring a patent to be essential to the standard, the contributors of a technology who own patents on the technology agree to license the patent on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms pursuant to the policies of a standards-setting organization, sometimes abbreviated as FRAND.​

  • Fair: It is usually quite easy to recognize unfair licensing requirements, e.g., it would be considered unfair to demand concessions that are not part of the licensing deal from a licensee, or to tie the grant of the license to unrelated commitments. However, fairness is subjective and more difficult to define.​
  • Reasonable: Also a subjective theory, a good benchmark for evaluating reasonableness would be to compare with general industry practice, especially when discussing licensing royalty rates.​
  • Non-discriminatory: Licensees that are in similar situations should always receive the same terms and rates. If for some reason this doesn’t happen, there should always be some objective grounds for the difference in treatment.​

What is the role of a standard-setting organization in the standard essential patent (SEP) process?

Standard-setting organizations (SSOs) are responsible for creating and maintaining technical standards for various industries. They play a critical role in the SEP process by defining what technology is necessary to comply with these standards, including SEPs. SSOs also establish guidelines for how SEPs should be licensed, such as under fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. 

Can a company be required to license their standard-essential patents (SEPs) to competitors?

Yes, companies that hold SEPs may be required to license them to competitors under FRAND terms. This is because SEPs are considered essential to complying with industry standards, and withholding access to them could harm competition and innovation in the market. However, the terms of the license must be fair and reasonable, and non-discriminatory towards all parties seeking to license the technology. 

How can a company determine if their patent is a standard-essential patent (SEP)?

Determining whether a patent is an SEP can be complex and requires an understanding of the relevant industry standards. Typically, a company should consult with industry experts and legal counsel to determine whether their patent covers technology that is essential to complying with an industry standard. If the patent is found to be essential, the company may need to disclose the patent to the relevant standard-setting organization and offer licenses to competitors under FRAND terms.

What are the potential consequences for a company that violates FRAND commitments for their SEPs?

Violating FRAND commitments for SEPs can result in legal and financial consequences for a company. In some cases, a company may face antitrust litigation or regulatory action if they engage in anti-competitive behavior by withholding access to their SEPs or charging discriminatory licensing fees. Additionally, breaching FRAND commitments can harm a company's reputation and relationships with industry partners, which can impact their ability to compete in the market. 

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