A Standard Essential Patent (“SEP”) is a patent that must be practiced by any firm wishing to commercially deploy a privatelyadopted standard, such as the standards promulgated by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (“ETSI”). The adoption of a standard by a major Standard Setting Organization (“SSO”) such as ETSI requires a declaration by a covered SEP-holder that effects a legal commitment to license that the SEP on a fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory basis (“FRAND”). This gesture which I describe as a “FRAND ceremony” has multiple legal consequences.
Jeffery Atik