Against Standard Patent Suits

International Telecommunication Union Secretary-General Hamadoun Toure.
International Telecommunication Union Secretary-General Hamadoun Toure.

 

“Standard patents should not get in the way of corporate innovation, but instead the patents must be a catalyst for greater innovation and cooperation. Companies such as Samsung Electronics and Apple should work together with each other rather than filing suits.”

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Secretary-General Hamadoun Toure emphasized the importance of innovation and cooperation based on standard patents and development utilizing the Internet during his recent exclusive interview with local media. 

“Let’s say there are 200 patents related to standards. One of them takes half of the total profits and demands excessive royalties so that the rivals cannot use the patents,” he said, adding, “The role of the ITU is to prevent standard patents from hindering innovation, and my organization has the capabilities to do the job.” He went on to say, “ITU standard patents are global standards provided free of charge, and thus can lead to greater innovation. What is important is to ensure compatibility between new standards.”

He urged companies to deal with their patent-related problems not by litigation but by talks and cooperation. “We have asked companies to refrain from filing lawsuits and drawn up constraint regulations for obligatory negotiations. If they work together with each other, there is no need for legal battle,” he explained. 

The Secretary-General also said that standards and regulations are necessary for telecommunications technologies. “Determining standards such as the width, height, and weight of automobiles is to make traffic smooth and boost its efficiency, not to strangle automakers.” He continued, “Standardization and regulations are a must to raise the speed of mobile communications, and their importance will be even greater with time as the quantity of digital content and the type of devices increase.”

He stressed that the ITU’s ultimate goal is to connect the entire world, that is, to establish a super information highway in which anyone can have inexpensive access to the Internet anytime and anywhere based on the higher connectivity provided with technological development. He mentioned Internet-marginalized regions, too. “The Web has brought innovation to our lives and had a positive effect across the globe, and we need to speed it up by making use of broadband.” He added, “Two-thirds of the world’s population does not have Web access now, and they should be allowed to do so.”

He remarked that Korea has a significant role to play in this context. “Korea is one of the most successful cases when it comes to the development of the Internet, and a textbook example that developing countries can take a leaf from. And I would like to ask the Korean government to make more efforts for the development of the Web in less-developed countries,” continuing, “The Internet is so complex that we cannot define it with a single word, but for me, as a person coming from a developing nation, it has meaning of development, and the broadband Internet is something desperately needed for that development.” 

Established in 1865, the ITU is one of the oldest arms of the United Nations, and has over 770 companies in 192 countries as its members. Secretary-General Hamadoun Toure has headed the organization since January 2007 and presided over the ITU Patent Roundtable, an out-of-court battle between Samsung Electronics and Apple, in October last year.

Copyright © BusinessKorea. Prohibited from unauthorized reproduction and redistribution