Frand friend or foe

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FRAND : Friend or Foe Dave McAllister, Director Open Source and Standards

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Success?

  FRAND is successful in commercial endeavors

  For the receiving companies   For levels of protection in creating commercially applicable standards   For reducing concerns on other open endeavors, e.g. Open Source

  But may be less successful   For the granting companies   For market innovation

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Should we de!ne FRAND

  For a commercial organization, it would be desirable to have a de!nition

  Legally clear and tested   With reciprocal impact

  For standards development, a de!nition is verging on mandatory   Many different interpretations on scope and coverage

  Tit-for-tat (reciprocity) in any FRAND de!nition would be highly desirable commercially

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Penalties in commercial behavior

  Violating a FRAND agreement

  Can cause patent engagements   Leading to product issues   Loss of revenue   Loss of reputation   Loss of trust

#is is of nontrivial impact.

But honestly, NPEs don’t care, so a sufficient exclusion /withdrawal would be useful.

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Regulatory or Commercial?

  Simply put:

FRAND is a regulatory tool to aid in long term adoption and stability, however, it is/must be powered by commercial acceptance.

However, FRAND must be limited in scope within standards developing organizations, since patent search and review can quickly overwhelm commercial organizations unless directed.

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Frand friend or foe

Technology

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