The EC has come up with proposals to tidy up the rules on standards essential patents (SEPs).

Under the proposals, patent holders in the fields of telecoms, computers, payment terminals and other  technologies, will be required to register their SEPs with the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO).IFI patents

EUIPO will then manage a process, tami g less than nine months, by which FRAND royalties will be decided.

Both parties can ask a court for  injunctions during the negotiating process.

 

A supplementary protection certificate to extend a patent by five years for pharmaceutical or plant protection products is proposed. This would complement the EU unitary patent that will be launched on June 1.

A  proposal would allow governments to authorise the use of a patented invention without the patent holder’s consent in the case of an emergency.

The proposals needs to be agreed with EU countries and the European Parliament before they can become law.