Patent Litigation | "Tech giants to talk patent reform at the U.N."

By: Shara Tibken
Source: http://news.cnet.com
Category: Patent Litigation


Apple, Google, Microsoft and other tech giants are meeting in Switzerland today to discuss patent litigation reform, seeking to find ways to protect their intellectual property without hurting innovation.

The roundtable, hosted by the U.N.'s International Telecommunications Union in its Geneva headquarters, will cover topics such as "potential improvements to existing policy frameworks, entitlement to injunctive reliefs, and definitions of what constitutes a royalty base."

The group hopes to find out how standard essential patents can be enforced without hindering competition and how to make sure licenses can be offered at reasonable terms.

"We are seeing an unwelcome trend in today's marketplace to use standards-essential patents to block markets," Hamadoun Touré, secretary-general of the ITU said. "There needs to be an urgent review of this situation: Patents are meant to encourage innovation, not stifle it."

The participants will include standards organizations, key industry players, and government officials. According to a report from the BBC, some companies attending along with Apple and Microsoft are Samsung, Google, Research in Motion, Intel, Qualcomm, Philips, Huawei, Sony, and Hewlett-Packard.

Patent-related litigation has been rampant in the technology sector, particularly in the fast-growing smartphone and tablet markets. Apple and many other companies, including Samsung, have been suing each other over infringement, and Apple in August won its case against Samsung. Other companies have been making acquisitions -- like Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility -- to help build their patent arsenals.

Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, told the Wall Street Journal yesterday that "the company is walking a fine line as it seeks reforms in the U.S. patent system" as it tries to reduce lawsuits related to mobile devices. He wants to make it more difficult to get U.S. patents on software.

Meanwhile, many companies submitted statements to the ITU ahead of the roundtable.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57529625-38/tech-giants-to-talk-patent-reform-at-the-u.n/