Standard Essential Patents (SEP)
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What's an SEP?
SEP stands for Standard Essential Patents i.e. any patent that essentially claims elements that may get incorporated at a later time in any standard specification. SEPs are also referred as patents that claim technological elements that are essential to be used in any industrial standard. The standard specification could be any standard related to telecommunication domain.?Once a patent is declared as SEP, it can be licensed out within the industry under fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) terms.
Major companies contributing for SEPs are Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, Qualcomm, ZTE, Samsung, Intel, LG Electronics and a few more, majorly contributing in the 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G technologies.
The major challenges faced by Corporates
There is no easy and reliable method to identify patents that are declared as standards. Several companies have a tendency of over declaring their patents as standards to get an edge above their competitors in the cut-throat?SEP?race. Various law firms and database companies charge whooping amount of money to correctly assure whether a patent declared as SEP is actually a standard essential patent or not. Plus, they take a lot of time in identifying and proving in accurately identifying the essentiality of all the patents in the portfolio of different companies.?