The first 5G specifications have been released, prompting questions about the challenges of licensing standard-essential patents (SEPs) in the internet of things (IoT).

Members of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a collaboration of standards development associations in the telecoms industry, approved the 5G specifications on Thursday, June 14.

 According to IP Europe, a coalition of R&D-intensive European businesses, the specifications show the cellular technologies necessary to build core 5G cellular network and base stations.

 IP Europe said companies including Ericsson, Nokia and Orange are leading the development of 5G standards. The standardisation process is enabling the development of a wireless standard which will be made available to all technology manufacturers globally through licensing on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms (FRAND).

Francisco Mingorance, executive secretary of IP Europe, said the release of the 5G specifications is the first step in “the creation of 5G systems that will connect new exciting products and services such as autonomous vehicles and the IoT”. (…)

This is an excerpt from an article that appeared in World IP Review on 19 June. You can read it here.