Welcome to the latest edition of the Sisvel Insights weekly round-up, aggregating news stories, analyses and data points affecting the SEP world that have caught our eye over the past seven days

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John Squires has made quite an impact since he was sworn in as the new Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office in September. In his latest moves, Squires seems to have fundamentally reworked the entire inter partes review regime with two announcements made last week.

First, he has taken personal authority for deciding on whether IPRs should be instituted, rather than delegating this authority to PTAB panels as had previously been the case. Second, he has initiated a 30-day consultation period on plans to create mandatory bars to IPR institution in cases where petitioners raise any section 102 or 103 challenges in other venues; where claims were previously held valid in any prior proceeding; and in cases where parallel litigation is likely to reach a decision first.

Both these moves seem set to favour the interests of patent holders over those challenging their rights. As such, they have the potential to increase the certainty surrounding the validity of granted US patents while increasing their value. There is bound to be significant pushback on the changes, however. Squires’ authority to decide on IPR institution could well be challenged in court, while the 30-day consultation is likely to generate a lot of negative feedback. These are developments to watch closely. So much hinges on them.

Elsewhere, in an exclusive interview with Sisvel Insights, former InterDigital and Nokia IP leader Eeva Hakoranta made a compelling case for arbitration as a means to resolve intractable, good faith disagreements over patent royalty rates; while the UK IP Office found itself targeted by US conservative groups over its current consultation on SEPs. There was also news on Ericsson’s latest licensing income numbers, which saw a year-on-year decline in Q3.

Please note that inclusion of a piece in the list below does not signify agreement with what is stated in the linked article, just that we believe it is of interest and worth pointing out.

Market

Ericsson reported annual recurring royalty revenues of 13 billion SEK ($1.37 billion). Licensing income declined year-on-year in Q3 due to large catch-up payments recorded in the previous period. ip fray | LinkedIn post

Legal

Samsung withdrew an ETSI complaint over ZTE’s SEP licensing practices pursuant to a court order from the Munich I Regional Court. Samsung has withdrawn ETSI complaint over ZTE’s SEP licensing practices – ip fray

The UK court hearing the InterDigital-Amazon FRAND case issued an order in the wake of anti-interim licence injunctions obtained by InterDigital in Germany and at the UPC. UK judge rebukes InterDigital lawyer for telling UPC, Munich court that interim license ruling could come down soon, AAASI even ex parte – ip fray

Licensors in the Access Advance HEVC and Video Distribution pools lodged new suits against Roku in Brazil. Press Release - Access Advance

An Indian court has found no infringement of a Philips MPEG-1 VCD SEP after more than two decades of litigation. Philips loses 21-yr patent battle as Indian court rules no infringement of SEP | MLex 🔒

Policy & Opinion

USPTO Director John Squires has announced that he will be assuming full institution authority for all inter partes reviews as from today (20^th October). open-letter-and-memo_20251017.pdf

New PTAB rules proposed by the USPTO would force patent challengers to choose between an IPR proceeding or a validity argument in federal court. USPTO Issues NPRM on IPR Practice, Withdraws Vidal-Era Proposal - IPWatchdog.com

A group of conservative think tanks and pressure groups wrote to President Trump describing the UKIPO’s consultation on SEP issues as “an assault on US (as well as European) patent value”. More than two dozen conservative groups urge Trump to oppose UK patent proposal | Fox Business

The European Commission’s decision to approve an auto licensing negotiation group is a dangerous flirtation with cartels and should be roundly rejected. The EU's dangerous flirtation with cartels - IAM 🔒

Strategy & Analysis

Former Nokia and InterDigital big hitter Eeva Hakoranta explains how arbitration can produce genuine win-wins in major bilateral deals. Sisvel | Busting myths about SEP licence arbitration

The essentiality checking and top-down valuation mechanisms under consideration by the UKIPO risk upsetting a licensing ecosystem that has been highly successful. UKIPO SEP consultation: setting and apportioning aggregate rates based on patent counts will hinder FRAND licensing - IAM 🔒

In a string of recent statements, the US Department of Justice has been sending some very clear warnings about the dangers of using antitrust law to regulate SEP licensing. Standards at Risk: When “Innovation Policy” Becomes Billable Hours | LinkedIn