Nokia has been crowing about a new study that ranks it second in the world for ownership of patents deemed essential to the 5G standard. The research by IPLytics comes weeks after Nokia achieved the top spot in a separate 'essentiality' ranking carried out by PA Consulting. Equipment makers like to show off the size and weight of their patent portfolios much as gym freaks flaunt their muscles or soccer players their supercars.
But there is more at stake than mere 5G machismo. Ownership of important patents puts companies in a stronger negotiating position with rivals and can minimize costs, including payments for litigation. Showing off their 5G patent portfolios is main form of vendor machismo. Patents ownership has acquired perhaps more importance in light of recent global turbulence.
Even after Donald Trump's departure from the White House, there remains a risk that technology standards may eventually split along geopolitical fault lines.
Signs that European and US companies have lagged China on technology innovation would not be a good omen. But the latest studies championed by Nokia do little to dispel the murk that surrounds the patents podium. The contestants are partly to blame for that. China's Huawei, in particular, loves to scream out big numbers of patents in its annual reports, the equivalent of revving the supercar engine at a junction.
In , it proclaimed in a blood-red font, there were 85, active patents on its books. Nokia more quietly cited 20, patent "families" in its own report, while Ericsson laid claim to "more than 54, granted patents. While Huawei and Nokia have a broader portfolio of network products than mainly mobile Ericsson, these headline figures have tended to put Huawei way out in front on 5G patent declarations.
On the basis of 5G families, the latest research by IPLytics ranks it as the top 5G-patent-declaring company by some measure, with US chipmaker Qualcomm grabbing second place. Anyone looking at these numbers in isolation might assume Huawei is winning the event. What's clear to experts, however, is that certain patent filings hold far greater value than others.
The methodology followed by the reviewers involved a multi-hour study of each patent family i. Each review resulted in the creation of a claim chart, mapping the patent in question to the relevant standard. The study also benefitted from the involvement of a statistician, who identified the sample of patent families to be reviewed and calculated the confidence levels and confidence intervals, which are revealed in the paper.
The study is also transparent as to the identity of the party who funded the analysis, which is rare for a 5G landscaping report and is a positive indication, as transparency as to the identity of the funder increases accountability and overall transparency. In the previous article on 5G landscaping published in October , essentiality audit data was used to chart the 5G patent family holdings of three leading companies: Ericsson; Huawei and Samsung.
Since the Cooper et al. The analysis:. The Cooper et al. The non-Ericsson company names have been anonymised, as the Cooper et al. Click here to enlarge chart. For a more detailed version of this article, please click here. Which topics are covered by the "Chart of the Day"? The Statista "Chart of the Day" currently focuses on two sectors: "Media and Technology", updated daily and featuring the latest statistics from the media, internet, telecommunications and consumer electronics industries; and "Economy and Society", which current data from the United States and around the world relating to economic and political issues as well as sports and entertainment.
Does Statista also create infographics in a customized design? For individual content and infographics in your Corporate Design, please visit our agency website www. Any more questions? Get in touch with us quickly and easily. We are happy to help! Do you still have questions? Your contact to the Infographics Newsroom. Felix Richter. Our infographics team prepares current information in a clear and understandable format Relevant facts covering media, economy, e-commerce, and FMCG topics Use our newsletter overview to manage the topics that you have subscribed to.
HTC did not even attempt to justify its proposed instructions under French contract law or to argue that French contract law and United States patent law are equivalent.
Because HTC relied on inapplicable law to support its proposed instructions, the district court was well within its discretion in refusing to give those instructions. Thus, although the district court may have been permitted to use United States patent-law principles to guide its instructions assuming that United States law were to apply , it was not obligated to do so.
But ETSI has already rejected a most-favored-licensee approach and chosen to give patent holders some flexibility in coming to reasonable agreements with different potential licensees.
The district court was well within its discretion to refuse to give such an instruction. Ericsson agreed that apportionment was necessary; it simply thought that the best way to determine the value that its patents added to the end product was by looking to the negotiated-for prices that others had paid to license the patents.
Even if the the apportionment instructions had been inappropriately excluded, such an error was not sufficient to require reversal.
0コメント