Nokia expert reveals secrets behind patents

8 May 2009

Nokia’s intellectual property expert has spoken to staff and students at BU about the importance of patents in telecommunications.

A leading intellectual property executive at Nokia has spoken out about the importance of patents and standards in telecommunications at a recent event hosted by BU’s Centre for Intellectual Property.

Tim Frain, Director of IPR Regulatory Affairs at Nokia, stressed the importance of standardisation and the role of patents for ensuring investment in future research and development in information and communication technologies (ICT).

Speaking to an audience of staff, students and lawyers at the event organised by BU’s Centre for Intellectual Property Policy & Management (CIPPM) he outlined the need for the industry to continue to support a patent framework that would encourage accessibility and enable competitors to continue to work together to drive technology forward.

Effective standards and patent policies are essential for the wide adoption of new technologies in the marketplace, particularly for achieving interoperability – meaning that products and equipment of different manufacturers all work seamlessly together – a key factor in global telecommunications.

Tim explained: “It is important that the standard setting process is open so everyone can contribute to the technical proposals and participate in technology selection. This way we are all able to select and decide what the technology road map will be.

“Patents encourage research, development and investment - fundamental principles that are no less true in the standardisation arena. A patent application provides a level of interim protection, so that the industry can share ideas in the confidence that they will be ultimately protected. “

He continued: “Without patents, competitors would be guarded and keep their technology secret. This is one of the counter-intuitive benefits of patents in the standardisation process. However, patent policies have to balance the interests of individual rightholders, competitors needing access to the patented technology, and the public interest.”

Martin Kretschmer, Director of CIPPM, said: “Essential patents that become part of an industry standard are a coveted price, securing royalties to the owner for many years. The capture of new generation technology by incumbent industry players has been criticised by some as anti-competitive.

“Tim Frain makes a convincing case that the patenting system actually helps the interoperability requirement that makes new technology attractive to consumers, as it becomes standardized. CIPPM is proud that leading thinkers choose BU to contribute to this key policy debate.”

Tim Frain is a leading expert on intellectual property rights in technology and innovation and a British and European Patent Attorney, has been at Nokia for over 20 years. In 2008 Tim was named by Managing Intellectual Property as one of the top 50 most influential people in IP worldwide.