5G RAN SEPs Likely to Encourage a Frenzy of Activity

The rapidly changing 5G RAN and the growth forecasts for the equipment market promises to attract 5G RAN SEP monetization. The large number and diverse ownership of 5G RAN SEPs should encourage a frenzy of monetization activity.

As of January 2021, nearly 33,000 active patent families have been self-declared to 5G. Of those families, over 63% or 20,750 families have been self-declared specifically to 5G RAN infrastructure. These families comprise nearly 70,000 active patents and applications. The pie chart below developed from Unified Patents’ objective patent landscaping tool (OPAL) shows the top 20 ownership of those families.

Continue reading the full article on IPWatchdog’s website HERE. This article is the second part in a series written by Craig Thompson, General Manager and COO for Unified Consulting.

Announcing the Launch of Unified Consulting

Many companies need customized solutions to help with patent portfolio analysis, landscaping, infringement, Standard Essential Patent (SEP) issues, and expert testimony.   Introducing Unified Consulting (UC), a sister company to Unified Patents, which can meet the needs of companies through IP consulting and data services and support. UC provides innovative solutions to clients which have traditionally been unavailable or extremely expensive.

UC will be led by Kevin Jakel and Craig Thompson, both of which bring decades of IP expertise to the new Company.  Craig will be leading UC’s consulting practice and data service offerings. Previously he had been head of IP at Alcatel Lucent and head of IP Licensing for Americas for Nokia.  Most recently he was leading an international IP consulting firm called TNT IP.

“Unified Consulting will be able to leverage existing software tools and analytics to provide capabilities previously only available to the largest companies,” says Thompson.  “I am excited to be part of an entity dedicated to providing the best quality answers to client’s questions and help improve the patent market in general.”

A major focus of UC will be to help companies better navigate SEP issues through offering data services and support.  As part of that, UC recently published a brief analysis of FRAND offers in TCL v. Ericsson that demonstrated the error of using comparative licenses there, and demonstrating how not everyone fairly paid the same rate for the same SEP license.

“We are excited to launch Unified Consulting to improve the patent market and help companies make more informed decisions,” said Kevin Jakel, member of UC’s board of directors.  “We believe that our tools and experience can deliver better outcomes for our clients in a number of important IP areas.”