Press release: One-stop SEPs Resource Hub launched by UK IPO

• the SEP Resource Hub aims to be a ‘one stop shop’ for businesses in the UK seeking guidance on how to navigate the SEPs ecosystem

• guidance includes Technical Standards and Standard Development Organisations, Standard Essential Patent Licensing, and Dispute Resolution and Remedies in SEP Licensing

• the Hub has been developed in collaboration with industry. It is an evolving resource and will continue to be developed over time to include additional guidance and support

• the Hub is the starting point to address information asymmetry and transparency concerns within the market. It forms part of a package of non-regulatory actions from the UK IPO to address challenges in the SEPs ecosystem

A new Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) resource hub for businesses in the UK seeking guidance on navigating this often-complex ecosystem has been launched today by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO).

A patent that protects a technology deemed essential to implementing a technical standard is known as a Standard Essential Patent. Technical standards are agreed ways that specify how technologies interact with each other and enable devices to seamlessly communicate with each other. We increasingly encounter them in everyday life – for example, in smart phones and telecommunications networks, cars, home appliances, UAVs (drones), smart meters and medical devices.

It is widely accepted that SEPs are of growing importance to the UK economy, as they enable the development and implementation of innovative technologies across key sectors by ensuring that technologies are accessible and interoperable.

However, it is known that businesses large and small can face particular challenges in relation to the licensing of SEPs.

These challenges may include knowledge and information gaps between SEP holders and SEP implementers, concerns around a lack of transparency, and around the effective use of dispute resolution services.

The Hub aims to help businesses improve their understanding of the SEPs ecosystem. It provides guidance and highlights other resources to help them navigate this ecosystem more confidently.

The Hub is divided into 4 parts:

• guidance on Technical Standards and Standard Development Organisations

• guidance on Standard Essential Patent Licensing

• guidance on Dispute resolution and remedies in SEP Licensing

• additional resources including a UK SEPs case law tracker, glossary of terms and international SEPs-specific resources which may be useful to UK businesses trying to navigate the SEPs ecosystem

Amongst others, organisations that contributed to development of the Hub include Benn Consulting, Cyclopic, Qualcomm and Nokia. The group included a broad range of industry trade representatives, SEP implementers, SEP holders, start-up and scale-up businesses, research institutions and academia.

The Hub is the first resource of this kind in the world and is intended to be a ‘one-stop-shop’ for any business in the UK seeking guidance related to SEPs.

Feryal Clark MP, Minister for Intellectual Property, said:

This will help UK businesses to navigate the complex Standard Essential Patent ecosystem and bolster business confidence as they develop cutting-edge technologies across the NHS, transport, telecommunications and other key sectors.

We are ushering in a new era of sustained economic growth, which is why it is so vital to support UK innovators by improving the digital resources we offer, boosting efficiency and productivity for businesses across the country.

IPO CEO Adam Williams said:

Standard Essential Patents are of growing importance to the UK economy. They are at the core of the technologies of tomorrow, and the pioneering industries of today.

The new UK SEPs Resource Hub aims to help our innovative, IP rich businesses – both large and small – navigate this often-complex environment. This will help ensure our IP framework serves as an enabler for their ideas and discoveries to flourish, supporting the government’s mission to grow our economy.

I would like to thank the members of our industry working group for their invaluable input in developing the Resource Hub. I hope that this evolving resource helps businesses operating in the UK who interact with the SEPs ecosystem more confidently engage in standardisation and overcome the complexities more easily.

Matt Dixon, President of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys said:

Standard Essential Patents are an important part of the intellectual property landscape in many industries, so the launch of the SEP Hub will provide further support to businesses, which CIPA fully supports. It is great to see the UKIPO leading the world in providing such support. SEPs are one way in which patents can be used to give a fair reward to innovators while enabling the effective development of interoperable technologies. Supporting the understanding of SEPs helps business owners make better decisions around their use of protected technology. This is a great initiative and we’re pleased to support it.

The Hub is not static. It will continue to be developed over time to include further guidance, case studies and general support for businesses who have an interest in matters related to SEPs.

The Hub forms part of a package of non-regulatory actions from the UK IPO to help achieve greater transparency and balance within the SEPs ecosystem, and improve how the market functions for those who interact with it.

These include working with other jurisdictions around the world to encourage greater collaboration and co-ordination on SEPs policy, and taking positive steps to engage and collaborate with Standard Development Organisations, particularly with regard to their IP rights policies.

Notes to Editors:

In 2022, the IPO undertook a call for views to gather evidence on how the SEPs ecosystem is functioning. Responses outlined important issues from market functioning, the role of standard development and IPRs, to issues around SEP licensing and dispute resolution.

In 2023, the IPO continued to develop knowledge of the challenges faced by innovative smaller businesses in the SEPs ecosystem. Our questionnaire for SMEs, small-cap and mid-cap businesses gave us a much better understanding of what works well and not so well for these businesses.
In 2024, we continued to engage in other evidence-gathering activity, including commissioning research, and formal and informal industry engagement.   

The IPO found that the SEPs ecosystem is incredibly complex and has some challenges that need addressing in order to achieve a greater balance and improve the overall functioning of the market.

One of those challenges identified is the lack of transparency. Another is the effective use of dispute resolution services. A third involves the existence of knowledge and information gaps between SEP holders and SEP implementers.

The launch of the SEPs Resource Hub forms part of a suite of non-regulatory measures by the IPO to begin to address some of these challenges. The objectives are:

• to help implementers, especially SMEs, navigate and better understand the SEPs ecosystem and Fair Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) licensing; 
   
• to improve transparency in the ecosystem, both in relation to pricing and essentiality;
     
• to achieve greater efficiency in respect of dispute resolution, including arbitration and mediation  

In May 2024, the UK Intellectual Property Office and the US Patent and Trade mark Office signed a Memorandum of Understanding to co-operate in their work on Standard Essential Patents. The MoU will allow both offices to work together on matters related to SEPs, including for example in conducting outreach activity to raise awareness of SEPs issues, or working together to achieve shared international coordination aspirations.