PacTech’s international Standards practice encompasses the worlds’ leading standards organizations, as well as smaller development organizations and quasi-standards development efforts.  We are regulars at ETSI, ITU, IEEE and other standard setting organizations, and counsel our clients on the complex interactions between IPR, standardization and competition law.  Our testimony and expertise regarding standards issues has been accepted by the U.S. courts and U.S. International Trade Commission.  We served as part of the US Government as a delegation to the United Nation’s Telecommunication Standards Advisory Group, and co-Chair the American Bar Association’s Technical Standardization Committee.

Standards can serve as the building blocks for a connected economy.  But innovation does not end with standards.  We work to ensure that all innovators are represented in the standards process, and to help establish balanced policies relating to IPR that protect the rights and interests of all parties.

Our clients include small and large companies whom participate in standard-setting and some that do not.  For example, as industry moves toward the Internet of Things and 5G cellular standards, more and more industries utilize wireless standards, and will be affected (or in some cases, impaired) by Standards policies and practices.  We help our clients understand the Standards landscape, how it affects their interests, and how to influence decisions that impact those interests.

Competition law can play an important role in achieving the benefits of standardization while avoiding potential abuses.  As part of our Standards practice, we advise clients on matters involving competition law and regulation, government authorities, and legal policies affecting the standards ecosystem.