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SEP Lawyer

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COFFYLAW, LLC > PRACTICE AREAS > SEP Lawyer

Thorough Standard Essential Patents Lawyer

In a competitive marketplace, it’s essential to retain the rights to your intellectual property (IP), especially when it’s an original design or creation. Whether you’re a solo inventor or entrepreneur or a representative of a larger company with a complete research and development (R&D) department, it’s vital to have the protection of a Standard Essential Patents (SEP) lawyer.

Our SEP lawyers at Coffy Law are well-qualified and experienced with the complexities of American patent law. Our experts can help you protect your IP through patents, defend your organization against competitor challenges, and assert your patents in the marketplace.

What Is A Standard Essential Patent?

To understand SEPs, you must first understand technical standards. A technical standard is a documented set of requirements, specifications, or guidelines that compose consistent criteria for a technical product, services, process, or method. Technical standards ensure compatibility and quality across different manufacturers or users within a particular field to facilitate interoperability and proper operation across brands.

Some examples of technical standards include:

  • 5G and WiFi networks
  • Audio and video compression and decompression
  • Data storage and exchange technologies
  • Photo formats

SEPs are patents that protect technology that is essential to a technical standard. SEP lawyers, therefore, must be technically savvy and experienced in counsel to provide both legal and technical support to organizations. Our lawyers at Coffy Law are just that.

How SEP Law Works

SEP law is extremely complex and it’s exceedingly difficult for organizations to navigate without the guidance of qualified counsel. Coffy Law’s SEP lawyers can provide support with:

  • Licensing agreements: SEP owners must maintain fair access to technologies, but also aim to maximize revenue. SEP lawyers can negotiate licenses that optimize this balance.
  • Competition law limitations: SEP owners are subject to antitrust laws, and counsel may provide guidance on remaining compliant with antitrust regulation.
  • Dispute resolution: SEP litigation is high-stakes, with potentially billions of dollars on the line. SEP lawyers can help resolve disputes between competitors.
  • Standard development organizations (SDOs): SDOs create, maintain, and disseminate technical standards to meet a specific industry or field’s needs. SEP lawyers may assist in ensuring patents meet these standards.
  • Fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms: SEPs must be licensed on FRAND terms, allowing companies that wish to license the standard to do so fairly. SEP lawyers may assist both in reaching compliance with FRAND terms and negotiating subsequent licensing agreements to retain an edge on the competition despite a standard implementation.

This is just the tip of the SEP iceberg. American patent law is extraordinarily complex, especially when it comes to technical standards. Failing to comply, either intentionally or through negligence, can lead to serious fines or even criminal charges.

Contact Our SEP Lawyers

Creating technical standards and inventing SEP that innovates them further requires a kind of genius. However, that doesn’t often translate to being able to effectively meet legal and compliance regulations.

For that, you need the technical experience and SEP expertise of Coffy Law’s SEP lawyers. Contact our SEP lawyer today.