US backs IEEE move to modify rules for standards patents

The U.S. Department of Justice has backed a move by the IEEE Standards Association to modify the rules governing patents that go into making standards, so as to curb excessive royalties and attempts to ban rival products that implement the patents.The proposed rules, for example, exclude any benefits from the inclusion of the technology of an essential patent claim in a standard of the IEEE in the calculation of a “reasonable rate” of compensation to the patent holder.The update would als