On February 8, 2015, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) adopted a new patent policy for standard-essential patents (SEPs) in IEEE standards. Effective in the first quarter of 2015, the new patent policy was approved by the IEEE Board of Directors as a modification of the IEEE Standards Association bylaws. SEP is a patent that covers a technical standard set by a standards setting organization such as the IEEE. Technical standards define specifications for products manufacturing or employ processes, that allow for uniformity in the marketplace. Examples are screw thread sizes or railroad track spacing. Nowadays standards cover complex technologies, such as quality management (ISO 9001), WiFi (IEEE 802.11) and Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15.1).
The full text of the new patent policy is available at http://standards.ieee…
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