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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In recent months, there has been clear US government support for bolstering the strength of SEPs. Last week, remarks made by USPTO Director John Squires further emphasised this direction of travel.

Speaking on the publication of the latest US Chamber of Commerce International IP Index, Squires said that SEPs represent “significant investment, ingenuity, and risk-taking by American inventors as they enable interoperability, create markets and unlock innovation”. Elaborating on the decision to establish an SEP Working Group late last year, he explained: “Yet, the SEP ecosystem has become increasingly hostile amidst widespread efforts to devalue contributions, unclear rules about rights, and systematic suppression of licensing rates. Our working group is designed to counter this and ensure that American inventors can obtain meaningful protection for their breakthroughs.”

While SEP holders will welcome these words – and the other pro-SEP interventions made by US government agencies, departments and their representatives – they will also note that on the ground in the US, things remain pretty much the same. This means that the key decisions in SEP policy and jurisprudence are still being made in Europe and other parts of the world. Should that change, it will be a very big deal; but so far, it has not.

Elsewhere, a new report claimed that Sisvel Wi-Fi Multimode pool licensor and licensee Huawei has the world’s biggest holding of Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 SEP families; and Sisvel veteran Giovanni Ballocca was named the company’s new Chief Technology Officer, with a brief to drive the adoption of technologies that support Sisvel’s business activities, explore opportunities in new technology areas and develop collaborative research and innovation projects with academic institutions, R&D labs and private companies. On the legal front, meanwhile, the UPC Court of Appeal further narrowed the scope of the long-arm jurisdiction regime.

Please note that the 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 flagging.

Market

Huawei owns more Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 7 SEP families than any other company, according to new research from LexisNexis Intellectual Property Solutions. Read more (IAM)

Giovanna Ballocca has been appointed Sisvel’s new Chief Technology Officer with a remit to drive internal technology adoption, identify external opportunities for new product development and build R&D and innovation collaborations. Read more (Sisvel press release)

Via LA has made important changes to its fee structure for the H.264 (AVC) video coding standard. Read more (Streaming Media)

Legal

The UPC Court of Appeal has again narrowed the body’s long-arm jurisdiction over infringement occurring outside its 18 member states. Read more (IAM) 🔒

HMD has filed a constitutional complaint in Germany over the Federal Court of Justice’s failure to refer certain FRAND questions to the ECJ. Read more (JUVE)

Oppo has scored wins in Munich and at China’s patent office in an ongoing SEP dispute with Asus. Read more (IAM) 🔒

Policy & Opinion

USPTO Director John Squires has said that the “systematic suppression of licensing rates” has created a hostile environment for SEP holders globally. Read more (USPTO)

Technologies on display at the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona underline the importance of standards development to many new 5G and 6G use cases. Read more (IP Europe)

Companies using the PTAB to defend against infringement suits – especially those without a US manufacturing footprint – should pay close attention to the forum becoming far more patent-owner friendly over the last year. Read more (Brownstein client alert)

CNIPA Director Shen Changyu has called for China to work towards a more market-driven approach to patent commercialisation in the pages of the country’s top policy journal. Read more (China IP Law Update)

Strategy & Analysis

A comprehensive timeline of InterDigital v Amazon illustrates how the dispute has become far more than a patent infringement case. Read more (JUVE Patent)

Despite Optis’ recent redaction win, parties must take care to protect confidential information in UK SEP proceedings. Read more (IAM) 🔒

Successful patent monetisation depends in large part on having market-adopted assets and selecting the right partners. Read more (IP Watchdog)