DOJ, PTO, NIST Reject Special Set of Rules for SEP Infringement Remedies

No special rules limit remedies for standards-essential patent (SEP) infringement, regardless of fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) commitments, DOJ said Thursday. It was a joint policy statement with the Patent and Trademark Office and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The agencies noted that the “rejection of a special set of legal rules that limit remedies for infringement of standards-essential patents subject to a F/RAND commitment is also consistent with the holdings of the U.S. courts to date.” The Supreme Court’s 2016 eBay decision “made clear that traditional principles of equity apply in determining whether an injunction should issue in any patent case in federal court,” they said.