Enrico Bonadio (City, University of London) – Luke McDonagh (London School of Economics)
Thanks to cutting-edge digital technology, cars are increasingly like “smartphones on wheels”. Therefore, manufacturers’ access to the latest 4G and 5G technologies is essential to navigation and communications. Notably however, such technologies are often protected by patents. These so-called standard essential patents (SEPs) frequently raise serious competition issues. In particular, we have witnessed an explosion in disputes over the appropriate remuneration to be paid to SEP-holders by those wishing to implement the patented technology in their products.