Study on the interplay between standards and intellectual property rights : final report; Tender No ENTR/09/015 (OJEU S136 of 18/07/2009)

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) in standards have proven to be an intensively debated issue in industry bodies, in standard setting organisations (SSOs), in academic circles, and - increasingly - in court. While both standards and patents aim to promote innovation and market place adoption, there is little else that they have in common. Patents in standardised technology are one of the many issues that market players have to address during the development and implementation of standards. The phenomenon of patents in standards occurs in those areas where standards relate to innovative and therefore often patented technologies, e.g. in the information and communication technology (ICT) which is regarded as being crucial for the development and success in more and more industry and service sectors.