Navigating patent pools and licensing for 4G

The 4G wireless ecosystem of today represents an increasingly broader spectrum of innovation and intellectual assets than its 3G predecessor.  Innovation drives the 4G wireless industry but it also presents some very unique challenges when it comes to defining the intellectual assets involved and eventually managing the licensing of patents associated with them.

Jean-Michel Bourdon, President, Via Licensing, explained to 4G Trends that the industry learned much from the experiences of the development of 3G.  “The time and cost incurred in facilitating licensee and licensor transactions was significant.”  Bourdon cited the large number of patents and the international coordination required as being impediments to the development.  In a 4G world intellectual assets can now encompass much more than just those associated with devices and infrastructure.  Assets in the form of operating systems and applications - on device or in the network core - are even more prevalent.

4G wireless technology arguably starts out with at least 3 underlying standards - WiMAX, LTE and 802.11n WiFi.  You might also consider that there are other wireless technologies that can be adjuncts - like NFC, RFID, etc.  Critical in the evolution of 4G solutions is expedient and cost-effective access to intellectual assets of others that can be combined to create something even more compelling for the ecosystem.  Ultimate creativity for innovation and solution development comes from ready access to these assets.  Without it, development is slowed and opportunities missed or avoided.

Recognizing the challenges and obstacles associated with the complexities of managing these assets the IEEE and Open Patent Alliance have formed a unique industry collaboration with Via Licensing.  For IEEE the relationship with Via Licensing represents an opportunity to shorten the time between the setting of industry standards and the licensing of same.  Formed in 2008, the OPA’s objective is to foster a global ecosystem focused on delivering broader choice, competitive equipment and service costs for WiMAX technology, devices and applications.   There are currently 11 members of the OPA who will, through the relationship with Via Licensing, take advantage of an administered pool of WiMAX technology patents.  What the collaboration means for participants is relatively simple but extremely valuable.  The collaboration provide a single relationship, a simplified license transaction and single royalty reporting destination.

But this is just a start, a good one but certainly one that will need to continue to grow.  Extending an open patent collaboration further into the 4G wireless ecosystem just makes sense.  Aside from the benefits of reduced time and cost, this type of collaboration has the potential to drive a further commitment to and adoption of standards.  It also removes a level of “noise” and perhaps reluctance or hesitation, allowing the ecosystem to focus on the objective of making 4G wireless and the mobile Internet truly pervasive and Anywhere.