Nordic’s Legal Director elected to Board of wireless technology patents watchdog, the Fair Standards Alliance 

Nordic Semiconductor today announces that its Legal Director, Marianne Frydenlund, has been elected to serve on the Board of the European standard essential patents (SEP) watchdog for wireless technology, the Fair Standards Alliance (FSA).

The Fair Standards Alliance is an association created in 2015 to strengthen the voice of innovative technology companies of all sizes to ensure that licensing of standard essential patents for wireless products such as smart devices is done on a fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory basis (FRAND).

“It’s unfortunate that the major cellular SEP owners do not offer licensing of their patent portfolios to component manufacturers such as Nordic Semiconductor,” comments Frydenlund. “Left unopposed this could exert a major drag on the cellular IoT industry.”

 

The stated mission of the Fair Standards Alliance is “to contribute to building a balanced framework for sustainable licensing of standard essential patents that fosters creativity, innovation, and job creation in Europe and beyond”.

 

In practice the FSA says this means licenses for standard essential patents should be available at any point in the value chain, and that transparency should be encouraged; FRAND royalties should reflect the value of the invention; injunctions and similar legal threats should be a last resort; and FRAND commitments should not be compromised because a standard essential patent is sold to another company.

 

“This is why I am extremely excited to be joining the Board of the Fair Standard Alliance as it is vital in protecting innovation and fair-play in the cellular IoT industry as it evolves and grows.”