Foo Yun Chee
Belgium( Reuters )- Following condemnation that an earlier draft favoring users while preventing patent owners from seeking injunctions, the European Commission has modified drawing patent rules to make it simpler for patent buyers to sue businesses over royalty issues.
The EU professional hopes that the decision will put an end to expensive legal battles over patents that are crucial to appropriate technologies for telecom equipment, cellular phones, computers, connected cars, and good devices when it releases the draft rules on Wednesday.
In the previous ten years, patent disputes involving Samsung Electronics ( OTCSSNLF ), Nokia( NYSENOK ), HTC Corp, Microsoft( NASDAQMSFT ), Apple Inc., and Microsoft were rife in the field of mobile technology.
Concerns about a patent dispute involving the mechanical sector, Internet of Things technology, and China's's expanding show of important patents, according to EU leaders, were the main drivers of the Commissions' proposed rules.
The most recent draft, as seen by Reuters, enables patent holders to file a court for injunctions against infringing businesses while the two parties negotiate fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory ( FRAND ) royalties under the auspices of the European Intellectual Property Office ( EUIPO ).
An earlier drawing forbade such genuine action until the FRAND-setting process was completed within nine months.
According to the most recent plan, the requirement to start FRAND determinations shouldn't interfere with the reliable protection of the parties' privileges.
In that regard, the party who agrees to follow the FRAND determination's's results while the other party doesn't may be allowed to file a lawsuit against the relevant federal court in the interim.
Injunctions, according to trademark owners, protect their rights, but their detractors claim that they can increase profits and stifle competition.
Before they can get act, the draft guidelines must be approved by the EU and the European Parliament.
Exclusive- The EU modifies the document patent regulations to make it simpler for patent holders to file lawsuits.