http://www.epo.org/news-issues/news/2019/20190318.html
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18 March 2019
The European Patent Office (EPO), the
European Committee of Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for
Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) have signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) to enhance
the support they provide to industry and stakeholders in Europe and beyond in
the field of standard-essential patents.
This
is the first MoU between the organisations who will now work together to extend
knowledge about the relationship between standardisation and patents. The purpose
of this collaboration is to support inventors, innovators, researchers and
industry on standard-essential patents (SEPs) in different areas of technology
by promoting the dissemination of technical standards including relevant
patented technologies. The agreement complements the established co-operation in this field between the
EPO, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the
European Commission.
“This agreement will help us to provide
inventors and innovating businesses with information about the use of standards
and patents in their field of activity,” said
EPO President António Campinos. “Co-operation with standardisation
organisations is essential for tackling the challenges arising from the
relationship between standards and patents. It will help ensure that the patent
system continues to support a competitive innovation environment for businesses
by delivering greater transparency on standard essential patents, as well as
high patent quality.”
CEN and CENELEC Director General Elena
Santiago Cid added: “CEN and CENELEC actively support the European innovation
community and aim to efficiently integrate it in the European standardization
system. With this objective, in 2018 we presented our Innovation Plan, which addresses the need to offer
fast-track processes to bring research results to the market. The ability to
reach the ambitions set out in the Plan will be enhanced by the collaboration
with EPO. Together, we can support the European economy to be more competitive
in the global knowledge-based economy”.
In view of the growing use of
ICT-related technologies in the more traditional technical fields, the ICT
standards – as well as the patents considered essential for their
implementation – are becoming increasingly important in this context.
Further information