Written by Nick Johnson, head of UKTIN
UKTIN recently announced a new programme of support on navigating standards in telecoms for early stage companies working in the telecoms sector and adjacent sectors such as quantum, AI, cyber and space. An introductory workshop on 12th December 2023 will provide full details of the support available. Previously closed to users of the UKTIN Innovation Platform, we're pleased to announce this workshop is now open to all.
Reaping the value of being involved in creating international standards can be a challenge for many companies, and often particularly SMEs. It can seem like a lot of time and effort and, in the end, your precious intellectual property can seem to get sidelined by the big guys.
But in the words of Mr Gershwin, it ain’t necessarily so.
As we were setting up the Standards Working Group, I heard a lot of this. Fortunately, I heard a lot of the opposite view too.
It’s one of the major ways of monetising your intellectual property. It may not have a major impact on your P&L, but the asset value of a bit of Standards Essential IP (SEP) is hard to overstate. I can speak from experience that when it comes to the M&A conversation, one of the first items on the due diligence list is: show us your patent portfolio. Followed milliseconds later by: how many of these are Standards Essential?
An SEP may not have much impact on the P&L of a SME, but for the acquiring company, the ability to add to their existing standards essential portfolio may be a prime motivator.
But how can a SME get a patent adopted into a standard all on their own? Of course, they can’t, but that’s where the UKTIN Standards Working Group comes in.
Joining the group as part of our SME cohort gives you access to a ready-made network of companies that can work together to form the wider strategic alliances that you need to get stuff done in the world of international standards. In doing this, we’re following a good precedent. In getting the Iu-h standard accepted by 3GPP, the Small Cell Forum did exactly this. It provided a forum for small companies to work together on a regular basis, pool information, plan their contributions to the Study Items and Work Items, and succeed. A rising tide, as JFK famously put it, lifts all boats.
Join us, as we start this journey to bring the rich diversity and resilience of the UK innovation community back to international standards.
By becoming part of our SME cohort you get:
- Access to the UKTIN Standards Champion and Standards Working Group, offering personalised support and guidance based on their extensive experience managing standards.
- To participate in seven interactive and collaborative workshops where the agenda is driven by your needs and priorities: this is your chance to voice your needs and goals when it comes to standards. Replicating models that have worked successfully elsewhere in the telecoms sector, we will work with you to agree common positions that can be used to influence and lobby standards bodies more effectively.
- Your viewpoints and perspectives represented at key standards body meetings by our Standards Champion.
- Potential funding to attend some standards body meetings yourself.
- All with the aim of supporting you to have your IP accepted by standards bodies.
Register for our 12th December workshop to find out more about what we can offer.
