The Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGNM) Alliance has held a multi-stakeholder conference on licensing practices in the nascent 5G industry.
The conference attracted representatives from operators including NTT Docomo, vendors including Ericsson, Nokia and Microsoft, and licensing and standards bodies such as ETSI and the Japanese and European Patent Offices.
Also participating were representatives from vertical industries set to benefit from the introduction of 5G - including automotive, consumer electronics and semiconductors – as well as patent tool administrators.
The conference covered areas including patent license practices, requirements for patent pools and platforms, identifying proposed practices for licensors and licensees, and listing requirements for assessing the essentiality of standard essential patents.
“It’s great to notice that our joint ITU-NGMN conference has been such a success. Obviously, the 5G ecosystem is different. New use cases beyond mobile broadband - like massive IoT as well as highly demanding requirements from vertical industries on low latency, ultra-high reliability and security - are causing substantial network transformation,” NGMN CEO Dr. Peter Meissner said.
“All these challenges have implications on the intellectual property of mobile network operators and across the different industry segments. Conferences like this are key in identifying IPR issues and exploring solutions for the enlarged ecosystem.”