Rubén Muñoz, Jenna Pellecchia, John Wittenzellner Article on Connected Cars and Patent Law Published by Today’s General Counsel

“Connected Cars and the Clash of Two Patent Regimes,” an article by Akin Gump intellectual property partner Rubén Muñoz and counsel Jenna Pellecchia and John Wittenzellner, has been published by Today’s General Counsel.

The article discusses two patent protocols that could contend for primacy as connectivity becomes more and more of a technological question for the automotive industry. Will the management of patent licensing mirror more closely those of the smartphone industry, where royalties are assessed at the end-product stage, or those of the traditional automobile industry, where royalties are assessed at the component or subassembly level? The authors note that this could be a critical point given the differences between the price of a car and that of one of its components.

The article goes on to discuss, among other topics, standardization and its application to the automotive and wireless industries, as well as the importance of licensing obligations for patents and the difference between royalty-free licensing and free, reasonable and nondiscriminatory licensing terms.

The authors conclude by noting that the connected car is at a crossroads. “Two distinct sets of industry practices have come together by the funneling of technologies into the care of the future…[T]he outcome of ongoing litigation…may provide some defining guideposts for the industry.” They also note that the initial licensing agreements executed by these parties “stand to play a role in shaping the future of the industry because, in the world of patent damages, comparable licenses are generally accepted as evidence of industry practice.”

To read the full article, please click here.