What is FRAND licensing?
FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory) is the licensing commitment that holders of Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) make to standards-setting organisations (SSOs) such as ETSI, IEEE, ITU, 3GPP. By contributing patented technology to a technical standard (4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, HEVC, USB-C), patent holders agree to license those patents to any implementer on FRAND terms. FRAND is the cornerstone bargain that enables interoperable standards: implementers can build products knowing they have a right to license; patent holders earn royalties on broad standard adoption.
FRAND elements
- Fair: licensing process must be transparent and good faith; refusing to negotiate or imposing predatory terms violates FRAND.
- Reasonable: royalty rate must reflect the actual incremental contribution of the SEP to the standard, not gain leverage from standardisation itself.
- Non-Discriminatory: similar licensees offered similar terms; refusing to license competitors or charging substantially different rates for similar use cases violates ND.
FRAND litigation landscape
- EU CJEU Huawei v. ZTE (2015): established framework for FRAND defence in injunction cases — implementer must show willingness to take a licence; SEP holder must make FRAND offer in good faith.
- US Federal Circuit (Microsoft v. Motorola, Ericsson v. D-Link): FRAND rate determination methodology; small computable contribution approach.
- UK High Court (Unwired Planet v. Huawei): global FRAND licensing framework; permits global portfolio licensing under English law.
- Top-down vs. comparable licences methodology: competing frameworks for FRAND rate calculation.
Türk şirketleri için FRAND
Türk implementer’ları (Vestel, Arçelik, Casper, Türk Telekom, Turkcell) cellular ve display standartlarındaki SEP havuzlarına FRAND koşullarında lisans öder. SEP holding tarafında Türk şirketleri henüz büyük portföye sahip değil ancak Türk Telekom ve Aselsan gibi büyük teknoloji kuruluşları 5G ve uydu standartlarında SEP geliştiriyor. Türk Rekabet Kurulu SEP lisanslama anlaşmazlıklarında AB Huawei v. ZTE çerçevesine paralel yaklaşım benimser; FRAND-iddia eden implementer’ın iyi-niyet gösterme yükümlülüğü temel ilkedir.
Do: document FRAND negotiation history (offers, counter-offers, willingness to license); structure SEP portfolio licensing with clear comparable licence benchmarks.
Don’t: refuse to take a licence as implementer (loses FRAND defence) or impose hold-up royalty rates as SEP holder (invites antitrust scrutiny).