EPO Research Report: Consensus Across Legal Systems - Analyzing FRAND Royalty Determinations for Standard Essential Patents

WISECODE Take

The European Patent Office released a research report in June 2026, confirming that there is no fixed rate for FRAND royalties of Standard-Essential Patents. Many business owners mistake these licenses for having public pricing, but this report, analyzing 65 global court decisions from 2013 to 2025, proves the complexity of case-by-case determinations. The importance of this report lies in revealing judicial assessment tools, such as the UK court directly setting global rates in Unwired Planet v. Huawei, and the US court excluding expert testimony in WiLAN v. Alcatel Lucent due to improper value allocation. If your products do not involve communication standards like 5G or Wi-Fi, this development will not affect you. However, if you plan to enter the IoT market, just like evaluating real asset value in financial investment, we suggest utilizing patent portfolio health check services to clarify potential standard patent risks early. We suggest two concrete actions. First, when purchasing communication modules, require suppliers to provide patent non-infringement indemnification. Second, when receiving licensing demands, request comparable licensing agreements as the basis for rate calculation. The valuation of standard patents has shifted from counting patent volume to scrutinizing substantial technical contribution.