Govt's intervention in SEP issues counter-productive: Assocham

Industry body Assocham today said any government's intervention in the issues related with standard essential patents (SEPs) will be "counter-productive" to market-driven inter-company licensing regime.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the chamber said that any guideline related with SEPs on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms should not appear in the forthcoming National IPR Policy.
The Commerce and Industry Ministry has floated a discussion paper on SEPs and their availability on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.
The objective of the paper is to invite views and suggestions from the public at large to develop a suitable policy framework to define the obligations of essential patent holders and their licencees.

An essential patent or standard essential patent (SEP) is a patent that claims an invention that must be used to comply with a standard.
The issue has a bearing on sectors particularly hardware technology like mobile phones.

"While government has a role in ensuring that technology is accessible, there is a limited or no role that government can play in deciding the licensing terms," Assocham said.
It said that the infringers of essential patents are demanding government intervention in determining the guidelines on royalty to set royalties that are not FRAND compliant.
"If they are successful, this will disincentivize future innovations in this space and consequently adversely limit the scope of innovations that consumers may enjoy in the future," it added.

Any government intervention in examining the availability of SEPs on FRAND terms will add another procedural layer towards the transfer of technology, it said.