Public Consultation on Patents and Standards URL: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/industrial-competitiveness/industria... *A modern framework for standardisation involving intellectual property rights* Topic and objective The objective of this consultation is to gather information and views on the interplay between standardisation and intellectual property rights (IPR) such as patents. Standardisation is the voluntary process of developing technical specifications based on consensus among the interested parties. Standard setting takes place in the European and International Standardisation Organizations (ETSI, CEN, CENELEC, ITU, ISO, IEC) but also in other organizations and fora or consortia on national, European or international level. Many standards comprise technologies that are patent protected. Public authorities and the standardisation community have developed rules and practices to ensure the efficient licensing of these standard-related patents. The purpose of this consultation is to allow stakeholders interested in standardisation involving patents, to bring to the Commission's attention their views on – how the current framework governing standardisation involving patents performs and on – how it should evolve to ensure that standardization remains efficient and adapted to the fast-changing economic and technological environment. The European Commission has the task of ensuring that the European Union’s internal market functions efficiently. Therefore harmonisation standards are particularly important for the EU. Furthermore, an efficiently performing standardization system is crucial for the EU's objectives in the areas of industry policy, innovation, services and technological development. Target group(s) Companies of all sizes, organizations, public authorities, citizens and any other interested stakeholders are welcome to contribute to this consultation. We particularly encourage those having direct experience with standardisation involving intellectual property rights to share with us their experience and insight. This includes those currently active in standardisation activities or planning to become active, as well as those who use standards without taking part in their formulation. We also encourage participation by those having direct experience with – patent transfers – patent pools and other types of patent market intermediation – patent dispute resolution (Courts, ADR service providers, users of ADR services etc.). Period of consultation The consultation is open from 14 October 2014 to 31 January 2015. Questionnaire Please find eight key questions as well as modules with more detailed questions in the following questionnaire: Public Consultation on Patents and Standards [Word] <http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/7129/attachments/1/translations/en/re...> Public Consultation on Patents and Standards [PDF] <http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/7163/attachments/1/translations/en/re...> Study on "Patents and Standards" In 2013 DG Enterprise and Industry commissioned a fact-finding study on the issue of patents and standards. This fact-finding study analyses the rules and practices developed to ensure efficient licensing of standard-related patents. It also covers barriers to efficient licensing and ideas discussed among stakeholders for dealing with these barriers. The study can be found here: – Final Report <http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/4843/attachments/1/translations/en/re...> – Executive Summary <http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/4844/attachments/1/translations/en/re...> The study is useful background reading for this public consultation. The questionnaire is stand-alone and can be answered without having read the study. We encourage you to structure your reply along the modules of this questionnaire. Where you want to comment on aspects in the study that do not directly fit into any specific part of the questionnaire, please do so in the section that is closest to the subject matter. How to submit your contribution Please submit your observations by sending your contribution to the following e-mail address: ENTR-SEP@ec.europa.eu <mailto:ENTR-SEP@ec.europa.eu> You can submit observations to all questions in this consultation or to specific sections alone. In either case, please ensure that we know to which question your answer relates. Respondent profile Please indicate clearly on your submission the following information about yourself: – Your name or the name of the submitting organization – Type of respondent (enterprise, association, citizen, public authority, judge/law firm, other) – Country of residence or location of headquarters – Your contact details including an e-mail address In case you reply as an association, please also: – Indicate whether you are registered in the EU Transparency Register (see below) – State clearly whom you represent (see below) In case you reply as an enterprise, please also indicate: – Your main field of business activity and the field of activity related to the consultation's topic (if not identical to the overall business activity) – Whether your enterprise can be classified as a "small or medium sized enterprise" (SME) according to the EU SME definition <http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/facts-figures-analysis/sme-defin...>. In case of doubt in this regard, please make a judgment call. Submissions that are sent anonymously will not be published or taken into account. If you include the above information but wish that your contribution be published without this information, please submit a non-confidential, anonymised version as well. The Commission may contact you in case a clarification regarding your submission is needed. If you do not wish to be contacted, please state this clearly in your reply. Transparency and registering In the interests of transparency, organisations (including, for example, NGOs, trade associations and commercial enterprises) are invited to provide the public with relevant information about themselves by registering in the Transparency Register <http://ec.europa.eu/transparencyregister/info/homePage.do>and subscribing to its Code of Conduct. – If you are a Registered Organisation, please indicate the name and address of your organisation and your Register ID number on the first page of your contribution. Your contribution will then be considered as representing the views of your organisation. – If your organisation is not registered, you have the opportunity to register now. Please then return to this page to submit your contribution as a Registered Organisation. – Responses from organisations not registered will be published separately. The Commission asks organisations who wish to submit comments in the context of public consultations to provide the Commission and the public at large with information about whom and what they represent. If an organisation decides not to provide this information, it is the Commission's stated policy to list the contribution as part of the individual contributions. (Consultation Standards, see COM (2002) 704, and Communication on ETI Follow-up, see COM (2007) 127 of 21/03/2007). Confidentiality and data protection The replies submitted will be published here after the end of the consultation period. Please indicate clearly at the beginning of your reply if you do not wish your contribution to be published. If you wish that only certain parts of your reply are personal data or business secrets and should not be published, please submit a confidential and a non-confidential version and mark them as such prominently at their respective starts. In this case, we will only publish the version marked as non-confidential. Please find information on the protection of your personal data here: – Specific privacy statement <http://ec.europa.eu/DocsRoom/documents/7102/attachments/1/translations/en/re...> – Protection of personal data <http://ec.europa.eu/geninfo/legal_notices_en.htm> *Contact details* European Commission, DG Enterprise and Industry Unit A4 - Industrial Competitiveness Policy for Growth Avenue d'Auderghem 45, 1040 Bruxelles, Belgium ENTR-SEP@ec.europa.eu <mailto:ENTR-SEP@ec.europa.eu>