Six big takeaways from Sisvel Connect 2025
When you bring all parts of the FRAND/SEP market together to discuss issues of common concern and give them the freedom to say what they really think, the results will be memorable. Jacob Schindler and Joff Wild report on a stimulating three days in Barcelona
Sisvel Connect 2025 took place in Barcelona from 21st to 23rd October. Over 200 people came along, representing a 25% year-on-year rise in attendance from 2024. Dozens of representatives from the entities that make their patents available through our pools were joined by senior executives from companies that license them, as well as other corporate IP leaders.
In addition to meetings for the patent owners that participate in Sisvel’s programmes, there were a series of dinners, networking events and an invitation-only one day conference, Navigating the Changing FRAND World. This focused on policy, strategy, technology and market developments, and had a great line-up of speakers – many from big name net licensees. This reflected Sisvel’s commitment to bringing all parts of the SEP/FRAND eco-system together and our belief that where there are differences talking them through to find potential solutions is always the best option.
The event was conducted under the Chatham House rule, meaning what people said in the room stayed there. However, that does not mean we cannot give a flavour of what was discussed. Following are six key takeaways.
There’s no permanent success in licensing
An electric opening conversation between Sony Chief Strategy Officer Toshimoto Mitomo and former Sisvel CEO Karel van Lelyveld delivered numerous lessons for an audience of licensing execs working within markets and business models the two men helped to pioneer. One that stands out: there is no permanent success in patent licensing. What drives huge royalties in one year could be disrupted the next by a new technology, a new business model or a shift in consumer preference. “Don’t expect a programme you create to last forever,” attendees were told. A long and distinguished career in licensing might be built on one successful project every 10 years – with plenty of false starts and missteps in between. Sometimes, a pool or programme makes its own luck – as when the mere creation of a licensing solution helps an underlying technology get off the ground. Other times, adjustment is key – an example was shared of a rate cut leading to a significantly greater overall royalty volume. The important thing is continuous reinvention: “You always have to try new things.”
SEP market transparency is becoming a reality
Transparency around SEPs – most say they want more of it. Conference attendees heard about two of the organisations that are working diligently to get more information into the public sphere: the EPO, which has established an Observatory on Patents and Technology; and WIPO, which is executing a three-year SEP Strategy. Both projects are responses to genuine demand from industries and national governments for data that can aid decision-making. These initiatives may not attract as much attention as the aggressive regulatory overhauls that are periodically trial ballooned by policymakers. But they have delivered plenty of progress in terms of the information available to market participants, patent examiners, policymakers and the wider public. Such efforts are complemented by industry initiatives – including patent pools that publicly disclose information on essential patents, licence terms and completed agreements. There are also, of course, commercial data providers with strong incentives to bring clarity to SEP markets and which are, by all accounts, finding success in doing so. All this is to be applauded and should encourage a re-think on what is meant by transparency with regards to SEPs. It is not just something the market wants, but something the market is increasingly getting.
The perils of Balkanisation
SEPs and FRAND are attracting ever greater attention from policy makers across the world, while developments in the courts are also having an impact. In the morning sessions there were detailed updates on what is happening in the US, the EU, the UK and China, with many noting that in several important areas things seem to be moving in different directions. The term “Balkanisation” came up several times. There is a danger, speakers and delegates agreed, that if different regions and countries continue to develop different approaches to key issues such as rate setting, interim licences, licensing negotiation groups, injunctions and the like, what is currently a global licensing market is increasingly likely to fragment, so increasing cost and complexity for licensors and licensees alike. Arbitration and other forms of alternative dispute resolution could be one answer here, but it takes two to tango. What looks compelling to licensors may not always seem persuasive to licensees or vice versa, especially when most outcomes are strictly confidential. Then there are market solutions. Pools, defensive aggregation initiatives, market clearance programmes and other tools are an immensely important way to by-pass the uncertainty that a fragmented regulatory world creates. If you leave it to policy makers, it was observed, the solutions they come up with are going to be well behind the curve given how long it takes to legislate and will almost certainly have harmful, if usually unintended, consequences.
It’s all about connectivity
As you’d expect with a crowd like the one at Sisvel Connect there was a lot of interest in what standards-based licensing is going to look like over the coming years. Those expecting major change, though, may be in for disappointment. We are entering an age of delayed technology adoption, delegates were told. The cost of building a standard is not high in relative terms and a lot can be achieved with a few people. This is leading to over-production, with many innovations being left sitting at the table. Of course, that does create opportunities for those willing to look around in the long grass for what has been developed but not exploited. The consensus was that connectivity is set to remain the main licensing driver. Look out for a growing focus on how it relates to satellites and perhaps defence. Then there is AI. Here the foundational technology underpinning everything is relatively old. That means patents matter much less than know-how - a fact that explains the huge salary offers being made by Silicon Valley’s elite to the top programming talent. Where standards licensing may play an important role is in the enablement of network interoperability and other connectivity imperatives that AI creates. Spotting the opportunities and acting on them will be the key to success.
Telling the Wi-Fi story
A panel on new licensing strategies recounted the remarkable evolution of Wi-Fi licensing that has occurred since the launch of Sisvel’s Wi-Fi 6 pool. In previous generations, Wi-Fi had been almost an afterthought in the wider licensing landscape. As its capabilities improved – making it, one speaker suggested, akin to cellular for the home – it became clear that the market had mispriced the value of the relevant patented technologies. The Sisvel pool launched in 2022 after two years of facilitation and has secured a steady succession of major deals with big players - including Acer and Cisco - over the past year. The keys to the programme’s success? Deal terms that work for licensors, licensees and companies in between; patent owners actively engaged in the licensing process; courts that have recognised the value of the technology; and real willingness within Sisvel and among the pool licensors to listen – even lowering certain rates when it has been merited. The result is that innovators are getting rewarded and implementers are securing essential rights. And there’s another thing: more companies are devoting more resources to developing Wi-Fi technologies. As a result, new generations of the standard are delivering significant advances with greater frequency.
Good faith, great discussions, see you next year
When you bring good faith net licensors and net licensees together and give them the opportunity to talk with each under the Chatham House rule, the chances are you are going to get a series of fascinating, important insights – and some robust exchanges. That is what happend at Sisvel Connect. In conference sessions, but also during other meetings, networking breaks and at dinners, the conversation flowed. It was great to see and to hear. What shone through was that everybody recognises they inhabit the same market and are looking for it to work as efficiently as possible. Where they may disagree is in how best to achieve that. It was clear, though, there are routes towards consensus – at least in some areas. Candour was a word that came up a lot. What does that mean? Engage honestly, offer transparency, show you can be trusted. That trust is foundational. Licensees want to see the comparables, the claims charts and the invention documentation; licensors need confidence they are not just being strung along in a game of hold-out. Both sides need to understand each other’s business imperatives. “The definition of insanity is turning to the US courts to pay millions of dollars for price discovery,” said one speaker. Companies in newer industries should get involved in the standardisation process so they have a stake, observed another. The hardest deals to do are the ones in which the counterparty is completely inflexible, refusing to explore potential avenues to resolution that are beyond their established playbooks. Owners are far more flexible than outside counsel so, wherever possible, engage with the businessperson not the lawyer. Listening matters so much. That’s how you get to understand. Did this year’s Sisvel Connect solve all the FRAND/SEP world’s problems? Of course not. But it did show that the market can come together and have a constructive conversation; one which needs to continue and does offer the possibility of progress. Those doing the deals know better than anyone how the market works, so they are best placed to make it work better. That is already happening. More can and will be done. The countdown to Sisvel Connect 2026 has already started. Look out for your invitation.