DISPUTES OVER THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY-RIGHTS OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS STANDARDIZATION

Both telecommunications standardization activities and an intellectual property rights (IPRs) system are regarded as effective mechanisms fo r improving social benefits. Because of inherent conflicts that exist between the two, however, serious problems are generated in the intern ational arena where the competition for technology development and mar kets is becoming increasingly fierce. In this paper, ways of harmonizi ng the relationship between the two are explored and explained. For th is purpose, telecommunications standardization and IPRs protection mec hanisms are described, and their positive and negative effects as well as their inter-relationship are also analyzed. In addition, IPR case studies related to international standardization are explained and ana lyzed. The current status and problems of IPRs policy of major interna tional standardization organizations are analyzed as well. Finally, ba sed on the results of the analyses, viable policy recommendations and research strategies for more comprehensive study of the above problems are proposed.