Technical Standards in Flux: Global and European Developments

Technical standards have emerged as a key battleground in the strategic competition between major geopolitical powers, especially the USA, China and the EU. The global standards game is also about regulatory and judicial competition between the said geopolitical blocs. For example, the EU has been particularly active with its new Standardization Strategy, Standard-Essential Patent (SEP) Regulation proposal and with its new digital laws like the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) and Digital Services Act (DSA), harnessing standards to promote its regulatory objectives. What is the role of international standards bodies and the WTO in these developments? How do courts see the role of different standards and how do they evaluate SEPs?

This  online seminar analyses these developments  to shed light on some of the most interesting recent phenomena related to standardization on global and regional levels. In particular, the seminar will discuss the resilience of the key principles of international standardization, recent WTO-developments, SEPs, and the role of standards in Europe’s recent digital laws.

The seminar is arranged by the multi-disciplinary research project StandardEdge, funded by Business Finland. 

Program 

13.00 – 13.30 Addressing global trade challenges through international standards
Devin McDaniels, Economic Affairs Officer, World Trade Organization

13.30 – 14.00 WTO Case on Chinese anti suit injunctions in relation to standards-essential patents 
Ruben Schellingerhout, Legal Expert, European Commission – DG Trade

***10 minutes break***

14.10 – 14.30 Impacts of the SEP Proposal on the bargaining framework in EU competition law
Juha Vesala, Director, IPR University Center

14.30 – 15.00 Max Planck Institute Position Statement on the Commission’s Proposal for a Regulation on Standard Essential Patents (SEP) – Is the SEP Regulation Proposal a Justified and Proportionate Response to the Changing IoT Context?
Dr. Beatriz Conde Gallego, Max Planck Institute

***10 minutes break***

15.10 – 15.30 ECJ’s Ruling in Public.Resource.Org Inc. (C-588/21 P, 5 March 2024): What Does it Mean for Standard-Setting Organisations and European Standards? 
Tuomas Mylly, Professor, Turun Yliopisto / Director, IPR University Center

15.30 – 16.00 Finnish Standardization Panel pilot: Preliminary observations 
Jussi Heikkilä, Adjunct Professor, LUT University and Research Fellow, University of Jyväskylä

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Changes to the program are possible