Launch of public consultation on the Draft FRAND Guidelines Discussion Paper

The Patent Mediation and Arbitration Centre is pleased to announce the launch of a public consultation on the Draft FRAND Guidelines Discussion Paper, developed in recent weeks by the PMAC FRAND Guidelines Working Group and unanimously approved by its members.

The Working Group, chaired by Simon Dack, Member of the PMAC Expert Committee and PMAC Neutral, was established pursuant to the PMAC Arbitration Rules, PMAC Mediation Rules and PMAC Rules on Expert Determination, which refer to guidelines for FRAND disputes.

The PMAC Guidelines will provide a non-binding and flexible framework of best practices for resolving FRAND disputes through mediation, arbitration, expert determination, or hybrid procedures, emphasising party autonomy, confidentiality, proportionality, and the early definition of the dispute’s scope. The draft also addresses the selection of neutrals, evidence and patent portfolio valuation, parallel court proceedings, and possible outcomes, and will be refined based on stakeholder feedback and future developments in case law.

The consultation offers relevant stakeholders an opportunity to contribute their expertise and practical experience to the development of the future FRAND Guidelines. In particular, the PMAC welcomes comments and suggestions from stakeholders across the FRAND and SEP licensing ecosystem, including SEP holders, implementers and other interested parties, on the proposed structure, content and any topics that may be missing from the PMAC Guidelines.  

Stakeholders are invited to submit comments and suggestions on the Discussion Paper by 26 October 2026 to the mail address: contact-pmac@unifiedpatentcourt.org.

After considering the submissions received, the Working Group will continue developing the Guidelines. At a later stage, a further public consultation on the draft FRAND Guidelines will give stakeholders an additional opportunity to comment.

The respective document is attached below.

Taking this opportunity, we shortly present also PMAC–EPO initiative for a global FRAND case-law database:

At the Working Group’s suggestion, the PMAC and the European Patent Office (EPO) have also agreed to develop a database of relevant case law on FRAND disputes from jurisdictions worldwide. In this regard, Juliane Kotzur of the EPO Observatory on Patents and Technology has been appointed as an observer to the Working Group. Further information on the database and its development will be published in due course.