European standards for mobile communications: the tense relationship between standards and intellectual property rights

Rudi Bekkers , Isabelle Liotard (1)

1 CEPN - Centre d'Economie de l'Université Paris Nord (ancienne affiliation)

this article starts by discussing the nature of European formal telecommunications standards. A new classification of the different types of standards is proposed, and the instutional framework for formal standards in Europe is described. The next section deals with the relevant property rights. We distinguish the strategeis for three different phases in the standardisation process. The next section explains how the instutional field reacted to possible problems of IPRs within telecommunication standard. The subjects of the two final sections, firm strategy and the standardisation bodies' policy, are illustrated in the GSM case.

Mots clés: standards; intellectual property rights; patents; strategy

Domaines: Economies et finances

Rudi Bekkers, Isabelle Liotard. European standards for mobile communications: the tense relationship between standards and intellectual property rights. European Intellectual Property Review, 1999, 3, pp.110 -126. ⟨hal-00351198⟩