The implications of using essentiality as a shorthand for infringement

01 September 2010

Companies involved in disputes over patents that may be essential to a standard need to rethink their usual litigation strategies. Nicola Dagg and Eibhlin Murray explain why

It is crucial that certain products manufactured by different parties can interoperate in the telecommunications sector and various high-tech industries. This has resulted in a proliferation of technical standards that enable manufacturers to produce products that conform to a common specification. Disputes involving patents that are declared essential to a technical standard are becoming increasingly prevalent. Although the precise definition of essentiality varies among standard setting organisations, the overarching concept is that at least one patent claim will necessarily be infringed by products that conform to the relevant standard....



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