BRUSSELS – 27 April, 2023 — IP Europe regrets the European Commission’s decision to propose a harmful and unbalanced Regulation on Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) without a thorough public consultation on its detailed proposals.  IP Europe calls on the European Parliament and European Member States to defend the time-tested balance of interests already offered by Europe’s current system of patent protection.

“It is ironic and deeply disappointing that the European Commission has chosen the day after World Intellectual Property Day to publish a draft regulation that would undermine intellectual property protection and Europe’s leadership in open standards development and its commitments under international law,” said Collette Rawnsley, Chair of IP Europe, a coalition of R&D-intensive organisations whose inventions are protected by patents.

“We call on the European Parliament and European Union Member States to respect and defend the current balance of interests that is the result of decades of case law and industrial policy,” she added. “This is critical to ensure ongoing investment in global standards, where Europe should maintain its leading role.”

In a letter to Commissioners, MEPs and EU Member States, IP Europe highlighted a series of highly damaging flaws in the Commission’s SEPs proposal which will undermine Europe’s ability to achieve many of its strategic objectives for innovation, standards, SMEs, and the Unified Patent Court (UPC). These include:

1. departing radically from existing precedent, without sufficient data; 
2. turning over management of standard essential patents to an agency with no previous experience with patents or standards; 
3. creating an unpredictable and unbalanced system which will further delay license negotiations and royalty payments, potentially for many years;
4. ignoring the EU’s commitments under the World Trade Organisation’s TRIPS Agreement and TBT Agreement, and the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights to defend patent rights; and
5. imposing an artificial and premature cap on aggregate royalties for implementations of a standard with a process that is open to misuse.

The Commission SEPs proposal is subject to co-decision, i.e., the approval of the European Parliament and EU Member States, which will now be invited to review and amend the text.

About IP Europe

IP Europe is a coalition of European research- and development-intensive organisations championing policies that boost investment in the creation of new technologies and businesses. Its members include both licensors and implementers of patents including standard essential patents.

To join an IP Europe press briefing later today or for more information please contact:

Media@IPEurope.org