Worldwide FRAND Licensing Standard

Worldwide licenses linked to the standard setting process are being challenged on antitrust and jurisdictional grounds. While, so far, most courts have batted away these challenges, some courts have not recognized their validity. If worldwide licenses were to not be enforce globally, then the patent exhaustion doctrine could further eat into the patent holders’ returns. Raising cost of enforcement linked to local licenses and lower returns linked to patent exhaustion would disincentivize standard setting participants. These worldwide licenses are essential to the standard system and must be protected as such: the standard setting organizations, Antitrust authorities, and courts have part to play to ensure the standards survive these attacks.