Common points between Wi-Fi, USB, and 4G : essential patents

Wi-Fi, USB, and 4G are part of our daily lives and are standardized technologies. As they are critical to ensure the safety, interoperability and compatibility of smart devices, mobile phones and other products and services, every market player has to rely on them. But there’s a catch : patents on these technologies mean that market players have to seek authorization from patent holders to use them. 

Such patents are called standard essential patents (SEPs).

Holders of SEPs have to commit to licensing them to other entities under FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminative) terms, to help ensure access to these key technologies.
How does a patent become a SEP, how does FRAND licensing work, and what’s WIPO’s role in this area ?

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