Support for the Referral of the Commission’s Withdrawal of the Standard Essential Patent Regulation to the Court of Justice of the European Union

Roberta Metsola
President of the European Parliament
Rue Wiertz 60
1047 Brussels
Belgium

Cc: Group Presidents and Members of the European Parliament

Re: Support for the Referral of the Commission’s Withdrawal of the Standard Essential Patent Regulation to the Court of Justice of the European Union

Dear President Metsola and Honourable Members of the European Parliament,

The undersigned industry associations, representing a large cross-section of businesses in Europe, write to express our strong support for the JURI’s Committee decision to refer the European Commission’s (EC) withdrawal of the Standard Essential Patent (SEP) Regulation to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). This action is crucial to bolster European competitiveness and innovation across the European Union (EU) and to preserve the integrity of the Union’s policymaking process.

Industry across Europe urgently needs the SEP Regulation. For years, the businesses we represent have faced abuses from some SEP licensors. These abusive licensors exploit ambiguities in law and standard-setting organisation policies to lock European innovators out of markets, disrupt key supply chains, and undermine the Union’s competitiveness writ large. We have long called for a solution to resolve these ambiguities through a consistent, transparent framework for licensing SEPs, which is essential to provide legal and commercial certainty that supports our members’ investment and hiring.

The proposed SEP Regulation is the result of years of EC fact-finding and consultations, which clearly established the prevalence of anticompetitive SEP licensor abuses. It is a critical measure for the success of Europe’s entire industrial ecosystem—the companies that develop and manufacture the technologies integral to all Europeans’ personal and professional lives. Moreover, the current fragmented approach to SEP licensing across the EU actively undermines numerous key EU strategic objectives, including simplifying the regulatory environment, reducing administrative burdens, safeguarding the EU’s future as an investment and manufacturing hub, and providing a stable and predictable legal framework.

Despite the well-demonstrated SEP licensor-driven harms, the EC’s balanced, evidence-based proposal, and the Parliament’s overwhelming approval of the measure (454-83, with 78 abstentions), the SEP regulation was unilaterally withdrawn without adequate justification or consultation. The withdrawal will only deepen the existing uncertainty facing European businesses, leaving them exposed to greater legal and administrative burdens, including protracted, costly litigation and opaque, abusive licensing negotiations. Furthermore, it sets a dangerous precedent that undermines the integrity and effectiveness of the EU’s policymaking process.

We therefore respectfully urge you to safeguard both the European Parliament’s institutional rights and European industry’s ability to compete in standards-driven markets and by referring the withdrawal decision to the CJEU. We need a predictable and transparent SEP framework to drive Europe’s digital and green transitions. Allowing the withdrawal to remain unchallenged would not only perpetuate critical market failures but also erode trust in the EU’s governance.

Sincerely,