If the MMP is what we have been saying it is
posted on
Oct 07, 2013 07:55PM
IMO we would be considered a SEP. The tier rate that TPL uses might not be FRAND.
Guidelines for Determining RAND Royalty Rates for Standard Essential Patents
In Microsoft v. Motorola, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington became the first US court to set fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND or RAND) licencing terms for standard-essential patents (SEPs). The 207 page opinion[i] attempts to establish guidelines for the interpretation of RAND licencing of SEPs.
Judge Robart's opinion is important to the standards world because it sets out, for the first time, a logical and consistent methodology for determining a RAND royalty. The opinion will be useful to arbitrators, mediators and private parties seeking to adjudicate RAND disputes before litigation commences.
In determining the RAND terms in this case, Judge Robart analysed what would happen in a hypothetical negotiation between Motorola and Microsoft for licencing of the SEPs at issue. In many previous non-standard-essential patent cases, factors in the Georgia-Pacific Corp. v. U.S. Plywood Corp[ii] case formed the basis for a hypothetical negotiation. In the context of SEPs and determining RAND royalties, Judge Robart found that the following “economic guideposts” should be considered in the negotiation:
Applying these principles, Judge Robart provided a modified version of the Georgia-Pacific factors to apply in the context of standard-essential patents and RAND licencing. The table in the following link summarises the Georgia-Pacific factors and the corresponding modifications:
http://www.mwe.com/A-First-for-FRAND-Federal-Court-in-iMicrosoft-v-Motorolai-Sets-FRAND-Royalty-Rates-for-Standard-Essential-Patents-05-08-2013/
Microsoft v. Motorola is precedential only in the Western District of Washington. However, it provides a valuable roadmap and may influence courts in other U.S. and international jurisdictions that are deciding on RAND royalty rates. Its applicability to standards that are less widely-adopted than the H.264 and 802.11 standards remains to be seen, however, since Judge Robart was able to choose from several different comparables to develop RAND royalty rates and ranges in this case.