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Standard-Essential Patents

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UK IPO Consults on a FRAND Opinion Service for SEP Licence Offers

The UK is testing a mechanism that sits between party-to-party negotiation and formal pricing by a court or arbitrator. On 20 October 2026, the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) opened a call for evidence on whether an IPO-led FRAND Opinion Service is feasible: the idea is for the IPO to give an opinion on whether a standard-essential patent (SEP) licence offer falls within a 'plausible FRAND range'. The government says it has not decided to introduce it; the call for evidence closes on 15 December 2026.
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Fifth Circuit Reverses Motorola Section 1782 Order

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on 29 October reversed a discovery order in Motorola v Advanced Standard Communication (ASC), No. 26-10747. Granted under 28 U.S.C. § 1782, the order required ASC to hand over the unredacted agreement under which it bought patents from ZTE, with exhibits, for Motorola's FRAND defence at the Unified Patent Court (UPC) and in Germany.## BackgroundASC bought a bundle of telecoms patents from ZTE on 31 December 2022.