Friday 18 October 2019

OxFirst Conference: Globalization and FRAND


OxFirst is hosting a very interesting conference on FRAND and globalization on October 18, 2019 at the University of Oxford.  The press release states: 


The decisions of national courts on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) licensing rates have the potential to impact the licensing and litigation of standard essential patents (SEPs) internationally, according to speakers at OxFirst’s 4th intellectual property (IP) and competition forum.

“The global FRAND licensing framework is meant to strike a balance between the rights of the Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) holders and the needs of downstream innovators,” says Dr Roya Ghafele, founder and CEO of OxFirst.

“Decisions made at the national level, by national courts, bear the potential to affect licensing negotiations in other jurisdictions. It is therefore important that such decisions take into account the increasingly global nature of commerce,” Ghafele adds.

SEPs have become central to patent wars in information and communications technology because the use of these patents is essential for compliance with technical standards. Standards such as 3G, 4G, GSM or UMTS have been instrumental for the establishment of wireless communication. The advent of 5G bears the potential to be a crucial element for the internet of things. (IoT) As such, there is a lot at stake.

OxFirst’s conference, titled “Globalisation and FRAND: Coming to grips with the interplay of IP and competition law”, addresses issues facing the various players in these patent wars.

The conference, held Oct 18 at St Cross College, at the University of Oxford, is attended by academics, government officials, and IP experts in the commercial world.

Among the speakers at the conference are Hon Judge Fabian Hoffman, a judge of the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice of Germany); Prof Eric Sergheraert, from the University of Lille; Prof Valerio Sterzi, from the University of Bordeaux; and Prof Thomas Cotter, from the University of Minnesota.

OxFirst is scheduled to host its next IP and competition symposium in Brussels in February 2020. OxFirst Conferences are fully accredited for continuous legal professional education for the legal profession.

About the conference:

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