Standards, Patents and Mobile Phones: Lessons from ETSI’s Handling of UMTS

Abstract

The impact of patents and patent royalties are a major concern of standards setting organisations. Here we examine the patents filed in the UMTS 3rd generation mobile phone standard, governed by the ETSI IPR policy in response to patent issues faced during the earlier GSM standardization. We contrast firm strategies and policy effectiveness between the GSM and UTMS efforts, and review the potential impact of potential changes to the ETSI IPR policy.