SEP licensing AI transparency warning; Fortress acquires IPValue; UPC appeals court’s concerns over UK interim licences; Tokyo court updates mediation rules; plus much more

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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Sharaz Gill is Head of Portfolio Management at Sisvel but prior to joining us he was a founder and one of the driving forces behind AI-powered patent platform IP Mind. In other words, he knows his way around AI and SEPs. That’s one reason why an article he wrote for Sisvel Insights last week entitled “Do we really want transparency in AI licensing?” is such a compelling read.

Although Gill is a firm believer in the potential for AI to shine a bright light on what can be an opaque licensing world, he also warns that it needs to be handled with care. Everyone says they want full transparency, he states, until they start to understand exactly what this means and the outcomes it may lead to. At that point, both licensors and licensees baulk. This does not mean abandoning AI, Gill argues, but it does mean being very clear on how to utilise it. “We should want transparency, but not in its naïve form,” he explains. “We should want it as a discipline, with rules about method, governance and use.” This is an insightful piece with industry-wide implications. It merits close attention.

Elsewhere, there was major IP market news with the announcement that Fortress Investment Group has acquired IPValue; while the UPC Court of Appeal in Luxembourg expressed concerns over how UK interim licence declarations might impact the effective enforcement of rights within the UPC. There were important developments, too, concerning the Tokyo High Court’s rules governing its SEP judicial mediation process.

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

Fortress Investment Group has acquired patent licensing firm IPValue, which will continue to operate as an independent business. Read more (IAM) 🔒. See also ip fray 🔒

The Sisvel POS patent pool has welcomed four additional licensors: Unisoc, Harfang IP, China Unicom and IP Innovation. Read more (Sisvel LinkedIn)

Fractus has announced the completion of its first patent licence in the IoT asset tracking space. Read more (IAM)

Chinese smartphone brand Honor has joined the Avanci 4G and 5G vehicle programmes as a licensor. Read more (PRIP Research)

Legal

The UPC Court of Appeal has expressed reservations over the practical impact of interim licence declarations in the UK. Read more (Bristows). See also ip fray 🔒

The Tokyo District Court has updated the rules governing its SEP Judicial Mediation process, which can now be initiated unilaterally. Read more (ip fray) 🔒

There have been new UPC developments in Lisbon and Paris as Ericsson and Transsion continue their SEP dispute. Read more (ip fray) 🔒

A US judge has allowed a declaratory judgment action brought by Dolby against InterDigital to proceed in litigation between the two licensing powerhouses. Read more (IAM) 🔒

Policy & Opinion

Courts risk destabilising successful patent pools by substituting judicial rate-setting for market-determined prices. Read more (IAM) 🔒

Brazil’s business courts are becoming more technically rigorous in SEP suits even as the country cements its reputation for speedy injunctions. Read more (MLex) 🔒

Arbitration of SEP disputes provides three key benefits that promote balance: timeliness, rigour and neutrality. Read more (Patricio Delgado, LinkedIn)

To retain the multiple benefits of the SEP licensing framework, it is vital that when parties make a deal, either they adhere to it or the law ensures that the agreement can be reliably enforced. Read more (Law360) 🔒

Strategy & Analysis

Using AI to enhance SEP transparency is a worthwhile goal, but it must be pursued carefully, with rules on method, governance and use. Read more (Sisvel Insights)🔒

A decision staying a preliminary injunction against Geely last month has prompted debate over whether the Brazilian courts are taking a more cautious approach to SEP-related preliminary injunctions. Read more (IAM)

A recently published field guide to standards governance and IP policy is not a neutral primer, but a document that frames many key issues in a one-sided way. Read more (Standards at Risk)

A 50-year study shows that regulatory predictability explains why IP value has proved more resilient in some regions than in others. Read more (IAM) 🔒

The proportion of USPTO applications whose first-named inventor is US based and that are not continuations, divisionals or continuations-in-part fell from around 33% of the annual total 20 years ago to 13% in 2024. Read more (PatentlyO)