Publication

PA leads the way in managing essential patents in 3G

Essential patents (those embedded in the standard itself) are a massive problem for wireless manufacturers and operators today. Because all standard-compliant equipment infringes these patents, infringement is easy to demonstrate and licensing cannot be avoided.

In GSM, licensing these patents is expensive – at over 10% of the average selling price (ASP) of the product. In WCDMA it is much worse – licence costs running to 25% of product ASP. Licensing, cross-licensing and litigation are rife – and it’s a multi-billion dollar cost to the industry. It’s vital for vendors to have their own essential patents in the standard to maximise cross-licensing and
minimise royalty payments.