There is an ongoing debate about the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) policies of major Standard Setting Organisations (SSOs) and how the licensing disputes related to the valuation of patents that are potentially essential to the standards, commonly referred to as standards-essential patents (SEPs), should be resolved. The licensing commitments, often based on Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) terms, have been the focal point of various discussions about their purpose, interpretation, and whether or not they need further clarification. At this time of intense global debate, IPR policies related to the newly formed Indian telecommunications standards SSO, the Telecommunications Standards Development Society (TSDSI) were formed recently, the jurisprudence on the FRAND licensing practices and related legal disputes is under formation in both the Indian courts and India’s competition watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), and more recently, the Department of Industrial Planning and Promotion (DIPP) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) addressed FRAND licensing in their policy documents. This article connects the legal and economic issues underlying the global dialogue on SSO IPR policies and licensing of SEPs with the FRAND-related disputes in the Indian jurisprudence currently in formation. Against the backdrop of these legal disputes and policy discussions regarding licensing, India’s “Make in India” vision is poised to incentivise local indigenous telecommunications industry to climb up the value chain, and become manufacturers and designers. Therefore, the policies that India implements and how the jurisprudence evolves is of key importance towards the long-term prospects of the wireless and telecommunications industry that heavily relies on the creation and use of common technology standards. An understanding, therefore, of the key legal and economic theories is critical.
