ARE FAIR, REASONABLE AND NONDISCRIMINATORY (FRAND) COMMITMENTS APPLICABLE OUTSIDE THE STANDARD ESSENTIAL PATENTS (SEPS) DOMAIN? — AN ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE

To date, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) has dealt with two cases that involved fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory (FRAND) commitments in order to resolve the competition concerns identified. While the application of FRAND commitments outside the standard essential patents (SEPs) domain remains limited globally, we show that the circumstances that give rise to the economic justification for the use of FRAND commitments in SEP cases are not unique. Instead, such circumstances are also present in some non-SEP cases such as those involving vertical effects in mergers and acquisitions, or abuse of dominance conduct such as refusal to supply. Therefore, FRAND commitments remain a viable behavioral remedy in addressing competition concerns.