Commissioner Kroes welcomes SMEs ideas on ICT standards
The European Commissioner for Competition Policy warned her audience on the dangers of "patent ambush", "when a company taking part in the standard-setting process hides the fact that it holds essential IPRs over the standard being developed, and starts asserting such IPRs only after the standard has been agreed and other companies are "locked in" to using it". Mrs. Kroes then took a strong stance in favour of ex ante disclosure of maximum royalty rates of IPRs in standards: "I see no inherent reason why such a mechanism would fall foul of the competition rules, unless it is some kind of smokescreen for a cartel."
