Avanci’s share of LTE SEPs at 50%

CUBICIBUC Owl_dgl

At the start of 2019 Avanci is able to count 20 organisations as members of its patent licensing initiative. Recent joiners include NEC, TNO (The Netherlands Organisation for applied scientific research), Siemens and Conversant Wireless Licensing S.A.R.L. (an IP Licensing company) – taking Avanci’s share of the declared SEP Landscape to 50%.

Patent pool initiatives and licensing platforms can offer a simplified route to licensing, and as wireless standards become increasingly complex as the industry adds 5G functionality to 4G, 3G and IoT applications, the potential benefits to the industry of a simplified licensing model are appealing. Avanci (Avanci.com) is currently offering licenses to 2G (GSM, GPRS, EDGE), 3G (WCDMA, HSPA) and 4G (LTE, LTE-A) cellular standards – potentially offering a compelling proposition to potential licensees, bringing the patent portfolios of its members together under one platform.

Cubicibuc - Avanci LTE SEPs January 2019 at 50%

As we have written about previously the inclusion of big names such as Nokia, Ericsson, Qualcomm and InterDigital are big wins for Avanci. Considering a blended rate across the technologies within scope of Avanci, the platform appears to hold around 54% of the declared landscape. This figure does not include considerations of validity, actual essentiality, expiration profile (particularly for 2G and 3G) or geographic scope, but provides a top-level view of Avanci’s position.

 

Generalised FRAND Top-down model

The challenge for licensees is to independently examine the value of the initiative against the requested licence fee. Avanci is yet to publish a patent list, leaving implementors from an increasingly diverse set of industries and sectors with the complex task of performing the economic analysis themselves.

The challenge for Avanci is to coherently and transparently demonstrate its value proposition in a convincing manner. Taking into consideration the European Commission guidance on SEPs it is incumbent on entities such as Avanci, given their position in the market place, to act transparently and provide useful, relevant and up-to date information on alleged SEPs. Only with such information will potential licensees, that typically do not have the in-house expertise necessary to perform their own analysis, be able to understand the proposition in front of them.

 

About CUBICIBUC

CUBICIBUC is an independent consulting firm that provides commercial and technical support in FRAND and SEP related matters – helping clients dealing with licensing issues, and providing expert support to litigation and arbitration.

CUBICIBUC, has a long history supporting SEP related matters, our team has commissioned and built numerous SEP landscape reports for 3G, LTE and WiFi. We actively contribute to the ongoing conversations around FRAND and SEPs, and support our clients with pragmatic advice to derisk SEP licensing.

Copies of the full analysis can be obtained from CUBICIBUC. For more information, and to discuss how we can support you please contact us at: info@cubicibuc.com or visit: www.cubicibuc.com