As the SEP Regulation moves through the European legislative process, experts continue to question whether the draft Regulation (a) responds to the concerns raised by the Commission and (b) whether the concerns motivating development of the Regulation exist, based on evidence.
IP Europe has published a series of blogs arguing that the Commission is pushing through new legislation without evidence indicating there is a need for such action. In the third blog, IP Europe focuses on SMEs arguing that that SMEs’ involvement litigation regarding SEPs is rare. The author suggests the Commission may have theorized the problems that SEP litigation is causing for SMEs rather than relying on empirical evidence to form conclusions. In the fourth blog, aggregate royalties is the focus. The author points to the Commission’s perception that there is an absence of information about SEPs and licensing, and thus more SEP disputes, when in reality the Commission’s own impact assessment does not support this. In the fifth blog of the series, IP Europe argues that there is no support for the Commission’s claim that the dispute resolution system for SEP-related disputes is flawed, once again questioning the need for the new Regulation.