Government Sets Out Next Steps on Standard Essential Patents

The UK government published its response to the consultation on standard essential patents on October 13, 2026, setting out a package of targeted measures intended to make SEP licensing clearer, more accessible and more efficient. The consultation, which ran from July 15 to October 7 and drew 93 responses from businesses, representative organizations and other SEP licensing experts, followed the IPO's July 2025 proposals that had included a Rate Determination Track for SEP disputes.

On transparency, the government will look to introduce voluntary disclosure of standard-related patent information at the IPO. Rightsholders would provide information at grant and, for EP(UK) patents, at renewal, creating a central source of SEP data accessible through the One IPO search service. The provision will not be retrospective, will relate to future standards only, will not compete with declarations made to standard development organizations, and will involve no verification of essentiality by the IPO. Reporting will be limited to information already used in licensing practice, with the government to work with industry on the details.

The response confirms that neither the Rate Determination Track nor an IPO-run essentiality checking service will be introduced at this stage, and that the current injunction framework in SEP disputes remains broadly adequate, with no legislative change on the availability of injunctions. Instead, the government will examine ways to encourage more effective pre-action information exchange within the existing civil procedure framework, explore the introduction of a court-anchored proceeding for determining FRAND obligations early in infringement cases, test a voluntary non-binding IPO FRAND opinion service, and develop guidance on negotiation best practice aimed in particular at businesses new to SEP licensing, with signposts to alternative dispute resolution.

UK courts have been a leading venue for global SEP disputes since the Supreme Court's Unwired Planet v Huawei rulings, and the package preserves that framework while avoiding significant new regulatory burdens - an outcome practitioners described as generally positive for SEP owners and mixed for implementers, who gain transparency tools but no litigation-cost relief. The announcement also contrasts with the European Union, which proposed mandatory SEP transparency measures in 2024 before shelving the plan in 2025.

Original Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-sets-out-next-steps-on-standard-essential-patents