Public Comments Welcomed on Draft Policy Statement on Licensing Negotiations and Remedies for Standards-essential Patents Subject to F/RAND Commitments

The U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, announced that it is requesting public comment on a new draft policy statement concerning standards-essential patents (SEPs). The draft statement seeks to promote good-faith licensing negotiations and addresses the scope of remedies available to patent owners who have agreed to license their essential technologies on reasonable and non-discriminatory or fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (F/RAND) terms.

The draft statement is open to public comment for 30 days. The USPTO encourages stakeholders to submit comments on the draft statement to Regulations.gov until February 4, 2022.