With the advancement in technology and the rise of the strategic role of standards in geopolitics and international trade affairs, the integration of high-end technologies with standardization has already become a key element of development. Consequently, issues derived from standards essential patents (SEP) have also received significant attention. China has been proactively exploring solutions to balance the interests among patent owners and the society - which includes patent implementer. The last updates on SEPs in China took place in September 2022, with the release of the Guidelines of SEP Licensing for the Automotive Industry, and the China Association for Standardization’s (CAS) Calls for Drafters for Formulating Association Standards of SEP Identification Methods.

Guidelines of SEP Licensing for the Automotive Industry

On 13^th September 2022, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) and the China Automotive Technology and Research Center jointly issued the Guidelines of Standard Essential Patent Licensing for the Automotive Industry (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines). The Guidelines, which were drafted by the Information IP Committee of China-SAE and the IMT-202(5G) Promotion Group and Working Group, consist of four parts: i) definitions; ii) core principles for Automotive SEP licenses, iii) principles for calculating reasonable royalties; iv) rights of interpretation and declarations.

The Guidelines aim to provide a solution to reduce the differences and facilitate common understanding in intellectual property protection and licensing mode, among the patentee, patent implementer and the society.