International Regulatory Development and Comparative Analysis of the Enforcement of Standard Essential Patents－Legal Status of FRAND Commitment, Injunction, Reasonable Royalty, and Application of Competition Law

Abstract

Major countries have triggered a heated debate on the way to restrain standard essentialpatent (SEP) holders such as Qualcomm from imposing unreasonable licensing terms or refusal to license.Oftentimes standard-setting organizations request SEP holders to commit to license out with fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) termsto licenseeswilling to accept the same. Those commitments have become the kernel of relevant regulations on SEP enforcement. This paper covers three major fields on this issue, that is, contract law, patent law, and competition law, analyzing and comparing important casesso far and scholarly discussions on specific difficulties among major countries, and proffering author’s findings in certain aspects, in the hope of providing a comprehensive overview ofthe contemporary development in the world.

如何避免類似高通公司（Qualcomm）之標準關鍵專利權人加諸不當授權條件或拒絕授權，乃是目前各國熱烈討論的重要議題。標準制定組織經常要求標準必要專利權人必須承諾以公平合理無歧視(FRAND)之方式，授權予有意接受之被授權人，此一承諾現已成為相關法律規範之發展核心。本文針對與此相關之三大法律領域：契約法、專利法與競爭法，逐一分析比較各國實務重要案例與關鍵困難點之學理探討，並且提出本文研究發現，期能完整掌握國際間目前相關規範發展之最新狀況與較妥當立場。