Large swaths of the economy, and immensely valuable patent portfolios, are entwined with standardized technologies. The owners of thousands of patents “essential” to standards have given voluntary commitments to standards-setting organizations (SSOs) to license those patents on “Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory” (RAND) terms. But both patent owners and prospective licensees confront the question: What does this RAND commitment mean? Does it seriously compromise the patent owner’s ability to extract revenues from its patent? Or is it, on the other hand, an effectively unenforceable platitude?
The answer is critical to patent owners, investors, potential licensees and attorneys who advise them.
