Standard-Essential Patents: Competition / IP law and recent global developments

Speaker: Dr Igor Nikolic, Director of IP Policy, Nokia
Chair: Professor Ioannis Lianos, Director, CLES

About this talk

Technological standards like 4G, 5G and Wi-Fi enable connectivity and are important in today’s digital world. They are the foundation upon which other digital products and services are built. These standards are the results of continuous research and development by various companies working under international fora and are covered by patent rights. To enable wide access and ensure innovation incentives in the next-generation of technologies, patent owners typically give a commitment to license their standard-essential patents (SEPs) on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms.

Because of their ubiquity, SEPs have been subject to much interest by competition authorities and regulators around the world.

The lecture will explain the background of the SEP ecosystem and will dive into recent global developments. It will discuss the initiatives to form and provide guidelines for the licensing negotiation groups; where to license SEPs in the supply chain (and why it matters); and how the UK courts attempted to answer the elusive question of what FRAND is. The lecture may also touch upon the European Commission’s proposal to regulate SEPs and what lessons can be learned from the FRAND licensing of SEPs that can be used to interpret the data access obligation of the Digital Markets Act.

About the speaker

Dr Igor Nikolic is a Director of IP Policy at Nokia. Prior to that, he completed PhD at UCL on the subject of Standard-Essential Patents and worked as a Research Fellow at the European University Institute.

Fees

Standard Ticket: £25.00
Public Sector Ticket: free of charge **
Full Time Student Ticket (non-UCL): £8.00
UCL Students & Staff: free of charge

** Public sector tickets are for full time employed academic or those working in academic institutions, members of the judiciary, competition authorities or tribunals, government legal departments. You must sign up using your institutional email for this ticket

Schedule

17:50 Registration
18:05 Theatre opens and Event begins
19:00 Q&A
19:15 Event ends

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Executive Education (June 2025)

Competition Law, Public Policy and Technology: A Complexity Perspective

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Valentine Korah Laws Memorial Fund

The Valentine Korah Laws Memorial Fund honours the memory of a much loved exceptional scholar and advocate. Explore the opportunities that we believe best honour the spirit Valentine Korah embodied, and the legacy she left at UCL Laws. The new fund will:

• support the Valentine Korah Scholarship
• support an annual Valentine Korah Prize in competition law for undergraduates
• support a Valentine Korah Collaboration Space in Bentham House
• support an annual Valentine Korah Lecture
• support the creation of academic positions in competition law or policy

View full details of the opportunities available and how to donate can be found at:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/remembering-professor-valentine-korah