Unwired Planet vs Huawei: A Welcome Clarification of the Concept of FRAND and of the Role of Competition Law Towards SEP Licencing

摘要

Key Points: 1. Unwired Planet vs Huawei represents an unprecedented move to rely systematically on an economic view of FRAND. 2. There is a single FRAND rate, for given conditions, which corresponds to the rate that would have been negotiated before the adoption of the standard. 3. The judgement fully endorses a combination of top down and 'benchmarking' approaches to the setting of the FRAND royalty. 4. The non-discrimination discipline that stems from standard-setting committees (like ETSI) is part and parcel of the concept of FRAND. 5. The discipline imposed by competition law is less demanding than the ETSI commitments.