FTC Urges ITC Not to Ban iPhone, iPad or Xbox Over FRAND Patents

The FTC has filed a statement with the ITC urging the body not to ban the iPhone, iPad, or Xbox over now Google owned FRAND patents, reports FOSS Patents.

The five-page interinstitutional letter suggests that the ITC "refrain from imposing [] remedies in conflict with the public interest", arguing that "patent hold-up" over standard essential patents "could raise prices to consumers while undermining the standard setting process" and proposing that other alternatives be considered, such as:

● denying the entry of an exclusion order unless the holder of a FRAND-pledged SEP has "made a reasonable royalty offer" (which, as the letter recalls, an ITC judge did not consider to be the case in Motorola's dealings with Microsoft and, by extension, with Apple) or

● delaying the effective date on which an import ban enters into force "until the parties mediate in good faith for damages for past infringement and/or an ongoing royalty for future licensed use", putting pressure on both parties because the implementer may face an import ban if he "refuses as reasonable offer" while the patent holder may see the exclusion order "vacated if the ITC finds that the patentee has refused to accept a reasonable offer".

You can find the full report and a copy of the statement at the link below...

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