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The Expanding World of Standard Essential Patents - What you must know in 2025
Introduction
Modern-day connectivity forms the basis of almost every aspect of our daily lives – from mobile communication to the Internet of Things (IoT) and beyond. As industries expand, so do the challenges associated with interoperability. At the center of these challenges are Standard Essential Patents (SEPs). SEPs are crucial when implementing global technical standards.
In 2025, SEPs intersect with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), IoT, and 6G, reshaping the innovation landscape. Whether you are a patent holder, implementer of industry standards, or any company promoting innovation in markets like telecommunications and electronics, understanding SEPs is essential for ensuring interoperability and staying competitive.
What are SEPs?
SEPs are patents that cover technologies or methods that are necessary for implementing a given technical standard. These standards can cover a wide range of technologies such as Wi-Fi, 4G/5G, MPEG, and IoT, among others. When a product is designed (in specific industries) it must meet a certain standard in order to interoperate with other products if there are SEPs for that standard, then that must be taken in consideration in the product strategy early on.
Key Characteristics
- Mandatory Use: An SEP must be used by any implementer to comply with a standard.
- Interoperability: They ensure that different manufacturers can produce compatible products.
- Declaration: Standard Setting Organizations (SSOs) like IEEE, ETSI, and ITU require that companies declare their patents as essential during the standard‑setting process.
FRAND Commitments
As a condition for joining an SSO, patent holders commit to license their SEPs on Fair, Reasonable, And Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) terms. The FRAND principle ensures that SEP holders receive compensation for their inventions while implementers get access to the technology at reasonable terms.
SEP Landscape in 2025
The global SEP landscape is evolving rapidly. This year marks significant shifts in declaration patterns across standards bodies. Analysts have identified expansion beyond traditional telecommunications into smart manufacturing and healthcare interoperability standards.
Beyond traditional telecommunications, new standardization areas – such as AI-driven systems and smart manufacturing – are emerging. Recent analyses indicate a significant uptick in filings as companies position themselves for next‑generation connectivity using 6G and IoT.
Patent analytics reveal that while traditional sectors remain dominant, emerging areas (such as IoT and digital health) are contributing to an increasingly diverse SEP ecosystem. Litigation volumes and FRAND disputes have grown globally, as evidenced by multiple high‑profile cases in the US, Europe, and Asia.
Recent FRAND Developments
The legal and regulatory landscape of Standard Essential Patents continues to evolve, presenting new challenges and opportunities for stakeholders across industries. Recent court decisions and policy shifts are reshaping the FRAND landscape:
Landmark Rulings
In a recent appeal in the UK, Lenovo won an interim patent license battle against Ericsson over 5G technology. The judge ruled that “a willing licensor in the position of Ericsson would enter into an interim license with Lenovo”. The case originated from a broader dispute between Lenovo and Ericsson regarding 5G standard essential patents, with Lenovo seeking an interim license to continue manufacturing and selling its products.
The UK High Court’s decision was particularly significant as it provided a framework for resolving licensing negotiations between patent holders and implementers, especially in the context of complex telecommunications standards. By establishing criteria for what constitutes a “willing licensee” and a “willing licensor,” the ruling offers critical guidance for future SEP licensing negotiations across multiple industries.
Government Policy Impact
Changes in regulatory approaches – as seen in evolving US and European stances – continue to influence SEP licensing frameworks. For instance, recent shifts in the US anti‑suit injunction framework have provided clearer guidance on enforcing FRAND commitments. In Europe, ongoing debates explore the nuances of global versus regional licensing terms, reflecting the increasingly complex nature of international patent management. These policy developments signal a more structured approach to managing standard-essential intellectual property across different jurisdictions.
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been particularly active in addressing SEP challenges, introducing new guidelines that aim to balance the interests of patent holders and implementers. These guidelines include more rigorous criteria for determining essentiality, enhanced transparency in patent declarations, and mechanisms to prevent potential patent hold-up strategies.
New sectors that are facing SEP Challenges
The automotive sector faces unprecedented challenges as traditional component-based licensing models clash with connected vehicle implementations. According to the Unified Patents report (2024), SEP assertions against automotive manufacturers increased by 27% in 2024, with connectivity standards representing the primary dispute area. Effective patent landscape analysis reveals complex supply chain dependencies that complicate license attribution and royalty allocation.
Healthcare interoperability is another area with rising SEP challenges, particularly in medical device communication protocols and digital health platforms. Analysis shows the rapid standardization of remote monitoring technologies, with over 500 new SEP declarations related to healthcare IoT interfaces since 2023. As telehealth standards solidify, proactive intellectual property search strategies have become essential for device manufacturers.
In addition to this, Smart manufacturing also faces similar challenges with multi-standard complexity as Industry 4.0 implementations often require compliance across overlapping technical frameworks. The CEN-CENELEC standardization efforts have created new SEP hotspots in industrial automation protocols. Patent analysis reveals that cross-licensing has become increasingly critical, with over 60% of manufacturing implementers now engaged in some form of standards-based licensing agreement.
Approaches to SEP Management
Navigating the complex landscape of SEPs requires proactive and strategic approaches. Companies must adapt certain strategies for managing their SEP portfolios:
- Offensive vs. Defensive Strategies:
An offensive strategy might focus on aggressively filing and asserting SEPs to generate licensing revenue, whereas a defensive strategy emphasizes early identification, portfolio building, and proactive licensing negotiations.
- Patent Pools and Collective Licensing:
With the complexity of modern technology, joining patent pools (like those facilitated by platforms such as Avanci) can reduce negotiation friction and lower transaction costs.
- Early Identification and Declaration:
Leveraging advanced patent software and analytics tools helps companies monitor the evolving SEP landscape, identify potential SEPs early, and declare them promptly in standard‑setting processes.
- Technology Landscaping for Competitive monitoring
This involves in-depth analysis of emerging technologies, patent filing trends, and potential standard-setting opportunities. By mapping out technological trajectories and identifying white spaces in standardization, organizations can strategically position their IP and anticipate future standardization needs.
SEP Search and Analysis within PatSeer
PatSeer includes a worldwide disclosed SEP database covering a wide range of SSOs such as ETSI/3GPP, IEEE, ITU-T, MPEG, ANSI and others. PatSeer’s company search form helps you to look for patents that belong to company or patents that the company has filed/bought/sold off. This form also helps you to look for the SEPs that are related to the technology you are searching. You can search SEPs based on Standard Body, Name or Technologies. Additionally, you can also search using the definition of a particular standard technology that you are looking for using the Standard Title option in the Form.
PatSeer also provides visualization via charts and matrices. The quick stats provide charts for the Standard Essential technologies, Standard Names, Standard Technologies used by various companies (Filings by different companies) and Standard Setting Organizations. You can also create charts based on the top SSOs and their SEP distribution by country of first filing.
Conclusion
As we navigate 2025, the SEP ecosystem is at a crossroads of technological evolution and legal reform. Anticipated policy changes, coupled with advancements in technological trends in AI, IoT, and 6G, are set to transform standardization and licensing practices worldwide. Companies must prepare by refining their SEP management strategies (using SEP databases and tools) and actively engage in standard-setting discussions to safeguard innovation and maintain market interoperability.
The future of SEPs will be shaped by the interplay of global court decisions, evolving FRAND interpretations, and emerging industry challenges.
PatSeer is a patent intelligence platform that incorporates global patent data with multiple connected datapoints such as Standard Essential Patents (SEPs), litigation histories, oppositions, and technological landscapes. We provide sophisticated solutions for deep patent analysis, offering unprecedented insights into patent ecosystems across various industries and technological domains.
