JPO, RIETI to Host SEP Symposium on Tuesday, March 13

Professor Masabumi Suzuki has alerted me to the METI JPO-RIETI International Symposium, titled Toward Solving Disputes over Standard Essential Patents (SEPs): Licensing 5G SEPs, which takes place on Tuesday, March 13 in Tokyo.  (Presumably one of the topics of conversation will be the JPO's "Invitation for Public Comments on the Draft of 'Guide to Licensing Negotiations involving Standard Essential Patents,'” which Draft Guide I hope to have more to say about sometime later this week or next, after I've had a chance to review it.)  For now, here is the symposium agenda, from the symposium webpage: 

Announcement

We are now in the era of the Internet of Things (IoT), in which various things that have not been connected via networks hitherto, such as home electronics and automobiles, can be done so. Also, we are moving toward the 5G era, i.e., the fifth generation mobile communication system, in which larger amounts of data can be exchanged in real time. Meanwhile, standard essential patents (SEPs) are being used for manufacturing products using advanced communication technologies, such as IoT. Licensing negotiations that were conducted among companies in the telecommunications industry also are now being conducted between and among different industries. As a result, new issues have arisen about licensing agreements in terms of, for example, differences in licensing rules and methods of determining royalties.

Under these circumstances, the Japan Patent Office (JPO) is working to formulate guidelines to be used to help prevent or smoothly resolve disputes over SEPs. At this symposium, experts from within and outside Japan, including researchers from RIETI, legal professionals, and intellectual property professionals, will collaborate to discuss and report on the current and future issues involving SEPs. Discussions will be held on international arbitrations that are expected to settle licensing negotiations and disputes involving SEPs immediately in an integrated manner.

Information

• Time and Date: 9:30-18:00, Tuesday, March 13, 2018 (Registration starts at 9:00)
• Venue: Kioi Conference, Main Room (Kioicho 1-4, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)
• Languages: Japanese / English (with simultaneous interpretation)
• Admission: Free
• Host(s): Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) / Japan Patent Office (JPO)
• Seating Capacity: 200 (Pre-registration required)
• Contact: Ms. MARUTAKE at RIETI (E-mail ）
  Tel: 03-3501-8398

9:30-9:35 Opening Remarks

NAKAJIMA Atsushi (Chairman, RIETI)

9:35-9:55 Keynote Speech "Creating Guidelines for Negotiations on SEP Licensing and Utilization of International Arbitration"

MUNAKATA Naoko (Commissioner, Japan Patent Office)

9:55-10:25 Special Lecture 1 "Changes in the Environment Surrounding SEPs and Trends in Each Country in Recent Years"

David KAPPOS (Former Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office)

10:25-10:55 Special Lecture 2 "Current Situation and Issues of International Arbitration for Resolving Disputes Concerning SEPs"

Randall RADER (Former Chief Judge, Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit)

10:55-11:05 Break

11:05-12:25 Panel Discussion 1 "Ideal Modality of Negotiations on SEP Licensing"

Session Chair

Heinz GODDAR (Senior Partner, Boehmert & Boehmert / German Patent Attorney and European Patent and Trademark Attorney)

Panelists (in alphabetical order)

Gustav BRISMARK (Chief Intellectual Property Officer, Ericsson)

Christian LOYAU (Legal Affairs Director, European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI))

NAGASAWA Kenichi (Group Executive of Corporate Intellectual Property & Legal Headquarters, Canon)

SUZUKI Masabumi (Faculty Fellow, RIETI / Professor, Nagoya University Graduate School of Law)

12:25-13:40 Lunch Break

13:40-15:00 Panel Discussion 2 "Preventing Disputes over SEPs Involving Parties from Different Industries in the 5G Era"

Session Chair

David KAPPOS (Former Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office)

Panelists (in alphabetical order)

ENDO Yoshihiro (Manager, Intellectual Property and Standardization Division, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.)

Dan LANG (Vice President of Intellectual Property, CISCO)

Max OLOFSSON (Director of Licensing, AVANCI)

Ilkka RAHNASTO (Vice President and Head of Patent Business, Nokia)

15:00-15:10 Break

15:10-16:30 Panel Discussion 3 "Concept for Calculating FRAND Royalty Rates"

Session Chair

NAGAOKA Sadao (Faculty Fellow, RIETI / Professor, Tokyo Keizai University)

Panelists (in alphabetical order)

John HAN (Senior Vice President, Qualcomm Inc. and General Manager, Qualcomm Technology Licensing)

Dylan LEE (Deputy Director for IP Licensing and Transaction, Huawei)

TAKAHASHI Hiroshi (Manager, IP Development Section 1, Innovation IP Department, Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Corporation)

BJ WATROUS (Vice President & Chief IP Counsel, Apple Inc.)

16:30-16:40 Break

16:40-18:00 Panel Discussion 4 "Utilization of International Arbitrations as a Means for Resolving Disputes over SEPs"

Session Chair

TAMAI Katsuya (Professor, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Tokyo)

Panelists (in alphabetical order)

Klaus GRABINSKI (Judge, Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof), Germany)

Zhipei JIANG (Former Chief Judge, IP Supreme People's Court)

KATAYAMA Eiji (Attorney at Law, Patent Attorney, ABE, IKUBO & KATAYAMA)

Randall RADER (Former Chief Judge, Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit)