The area of standardization is a rapidly changing and complex environment characterized by complementary technologies with high functionality, short lifecycles, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) intensity, market deregulation, fierce competition and litigation. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) standards are perceived as the foundation of interoperability and the success of new products that interact seamlessly with existing devices, platforms and ecosystems

Consensus building among the various stakeholders is therefore an essential determinant of standard-setting processes, a platform critical to ensuring wide market distribution and acceptance of innovative services and applications. The presence of network externalities and the strong public interest dimension of standardization processes spur a highly dynamic field of intricate structures and far-reaching policy implications. The business landscape around standardization spans a vast array of industries in telecommunications, computers, and audio-video consumer electronics.

In the digital economy, standard-essential patents (SEPs), i.e. patents on technologies that are necessary for every implementation of a standard, are an increasingly important feature in standardization and an important element of the business model for many industries in terms of asset monetizing and return on R&D investment. The rapid evolution of information and communication technologies (ICT), coupled with the need for wider and deeper interconnectivity in view of the Internet of Things (IoT), has led to a variety of SEP owners and implementers with different business models and to greater diversity of licensing practices.

Through wide-scale, comparative research commissioned by the European Commission and WIPO, IP Vanguard shapes European and international standard-related patent and antitrust policies that benefit competition and consumers equally.

Technical and Practical Aspects Related To Patent Quality In The Context Of Standards (Study for WIPO)

Upcoming paper

Licensing Terms of Standard Essential Patents: A Comprehensive Analysis of Cases (JRC Study, European Commission)

Frand Licensing In Theory and in Practice: Proposal For a Common Framework

The advancement of the digital economy brings unmatched opportunities, but also a series of challenges in the area of intellectual property rights.

It is a volatile landscape marked by pervading market shifts, convergent technologies and emerging platform-centric business models.  Against this background, the stakes are high with regards to issues such as interoperability, reasonable and timely access to key technologies and content, legal uncertainty and unfettered competition. IP Vanguard looks at the broader economic, legal, technological and policy context to achieve a better understanding of the current dynamics.

Innovation in the European Digital Single Market: The Role of Patents

Forecasts that predict a wide industry adoption of cloud technology by 2020 also highlight data security and privacy as the number one concern of corporate leaders in the transition

Technical

i.e., latency of data networks, performance/scalability issues, lack of interoperability;

Legal

i.e. divergent privacy laws, underdeveloped rules in cross-border data exchange

Strategic

i.e., concerns over long-term viability of vendors, large investments in existing infrastructure and applications, significant cost risks, lack of appropriate forecasting methods, organizational inertia;

Starting from the premises that, in the new digital economy, technology corporations and cloud providers are increasingly perceived as the custodians of the data they manage curate and monetize, IP Vanguard consulting focusses on the evolving role of privacy as a market differentiator, a preventative tool against unlawful third-party surveillance, a component of IT design and architecture (“privacy by design”) and, overall, as a “default setting” in the strategic mindset of future business practice.

Privacy In The Cloud - A Blueprint For Business

Upcoming paper

The connection of everyday objects to the internet is a powerful tool at its infancy with far-reaching implications for industry, business, law and the society at large.

The risks and opportunities derived from the interaction of sophisticated technologies stretch from governance and the digital divide over to safety, security and the ethical considerations in the design of autonomous systems. At the intersection of technology, regulation and business strategy, IP Vanguard consulting carves out policy-based frameworks as well as tailored solutions according to the idiosyncrasies of technology and industry.

Ethical Considerations In The Design of Autonomous Systems

IP Vanguard is an international policy-based consulting boutique that specializes in Intellectual Property, Data Privacy, Digital Markets and the Internet of Things.

Dr. Chryssoula Pentheroudakis is a senior international lawyer and advisor in the field of intellectual property (IP) and data privacy. She works as an expert consultant with the European Commission (EC) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), her primary focus being policy-driven research related to digital innovation and competition. Based in Washington, DC, her expertise bridges developments on both sides of the Atlantic at the intersection of law, economics and public policy.

Chryssoula is a former fellow of the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich, and started her professional path as a lawyer with the European Patent Office (EPO), where she supported the Boards of Appeal in their judicial tasks. Next to case law analysis and comparative legal research, she dealt extensively with policies around standardization, patent quality and the Unitary Patent. Her publication track record varies from patent law compendiums and feature articles over to EU- and U.S.-sponsored studies and reports. She is fluent in five languages.

Chryssoula has a Ph.D. in intellectual property law from the University of Hamburg, Germany, and a Master of Business Administration (executive MBA) from New York University Stern School of Business/ London School of Economics/ HEC Paris (TRIUM). She also holds an LL.M. in data protection law. Her current consulting and research projects focus on privacy issues, cloud technology and cross-border data flows.

info@ipvanguard.com