According to WSJ report, Apple has reportedly asked the telecom standards body responsible for patent licensing across Europe to lay down a set of basic principles governing how companies license patents, increasingly contentious topics for rivals in the smartphone industry.
WSJ reports, “In a letter to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, Apple said the telecommunications industry lacks consistent licensing schemes for the many patents necessary to make mobile devices, and offered suggestions for setting appropriate royalty rates that all members would follow.”
“Many mobile technology companies, such as Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., hold patents that became part of industrywide standards. Standards bodies often require the patent holders …”
Earlier, we reported that European Union formally launching an investigation that whether the South Korean Electronics giant, Samsung is breaching the antitrust rules in its legal battles against Apple – its rival. Samsung said in return to this that it believes the “enforcement of its 3G standard-essential patents is consistent with all applicable antitrust principles,” adding that it believes, “upon the scrutiny of the facts, the commission will conclude that Samsung Electronics has acted in compliance with EU competition rules.”
In its letter, Apple also floated the idea that FRAND patents should be outlawed from being used to ban and block device product launches in markets. Apple who is already in the middle of legal spats all around the world has recently saw the German court decision which forced remove its products from its website the country, however it remains able to sell devices through its store and it is said to be confident that the issues will be overcome.
