WASHINGTON (February 12, 2025) — Today, the Council for Innovation Promotion applauded the European Commission’s decision to withdraw proposed regulations on standard-essential patents (SEPs). The regulations would have threatened innovation across Europe and the United States by allowing the EU Intellectual Property Office — which does not have significant patent experience — to manage royalty rate setting, rather than letting private companies negotiate mutually beneficial rates on fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) terms, as currently occurs.
Frank Cullen, executive director of C4IP, issued the following statement:
“The withdrawal is a victory for inventors everywhere, especially small businesses. The proposal would have enabled large companies within industries to collectively determine royalty rates, including artificially low fees for small firms that develop new technologies.
“The European Commission’s own research had found no need for such a drastic change, and no evidence that the existing regulatory system had discouraged ‘potential contributors from participating in standards development, or discourage[d] potential implementers from creating products that use technology standards subject to potential SEPs.’
“Taking licensing decisions away from the industry participants that understand new technologies best, and concentrating them in the ill-equipped EU Intellectual Property Office, would have slowed the pace of European innovation. EUIPO’s own former executive director admitted the agency “will never have the competency in patents.”
“While patent owners would have retained the ability to reject EUIPO-determined licensing rates, doing so would create unnecessary burdens and delays compared to the existing system.
“C4IP applauds the decision to withdraw this proposal, as we have advocated for in letters and statements over the past two years. Moving forward, we hope the Commission will choose to reject similarly damaging proposals that would disadvantage inventors, including proposed degradation of injunctive rights and endorsement of buyers’ cartels in patent licensing negotiations.
“We look forward to working with the Commission to ensure that the European Union encourages — rather than impedes — technological progress, economic growth, and human advancement.”
About the Council for Innovation Promotion: The Council for Innovation Promotion is a bipartisan coalition dedicated to promoting strong and effective intellectual property rights that drive innovation, boost economic competitiveness, and improve lives everywhere.