Editing 3G (section)

== Patents ==
It has been estimated that there are almost 8,000 patents declared essential ([[FRAND]]) related to the 483 technical specifications which form the [[3GPP]] and [[3GPP2]] standards.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.engpaper.com/3g-cellular-standards-and-patents.html|title=3G CELLULAR STANDARDS AND PATENTS|publisher=engpaper.com|access-date=2012-06-24| date=13 June 2005}}</ref><ref name="3gppatentsIEEE">{{cite web|url=https://patentlyo.com/media/docs/2009/03/wirelesscom2005.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620135106/http://patentlyo.com/media/docs/2009/03/wirelesscom2005.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 June 2015|title=3G CELLULAR STANDARDS AND PATENTS|publisher=[[Polytechnic Institute of New York University]]|author=David J. Goodman|work=IEEE Wireless com|access-date=2012-06-24|date=13 June 2005}}</ref> Twelve companies accounted in 2004 for 90% of the patents ([[Qualcomm]], [[Ericsson]], [[Nokia]], [[Motorola]], [[Philips]], [[NTT DoCoMo]], [[Siemens]], [[Mitsubishi]], [[Fujitsu]], [[Hitachi]], [[InterDigital]], and [[Panasonic|Matsushita]]).

Even then, some patents [[Essential patent|essential]] to 3G might not have been declared by their patent holders. It is believed that [[Nortel]] and [[Lucent]] have undisclosed patents essential to these standards.<ref name="3gppatentsIEEE"/>

Furthermore, the existing 3G Patent Platform Partnership Patent pool has little impact on [[FRAND]] protection because it excludes the four largest patent owners for 3G.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/european-standards/files/standards_policy/ipr-workshop/ipr_study_final_report_en.pdf|title=Study on the Interplay between Standards and Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)|publisher=[[European Commission]]|access-date=2012-06-24|date=18 July 2009|quote=''Pools that cover only a fraction of the actual IPR for a standard are not very useful. It is essential that the large licensees sign up. Examples of pools that have little impact are the 3G Licensing pool (which excludes the four largest IPR owners for 3G) and the 802.11 pool by ViaLicensing.''|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224154100/http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/european-standards/files/standards_policy/ipr-workshop/ipr_study_final_report_en.pdf|archive-date=24 December 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4037906/Possible-showstoppers-shadow-3G-patent-pool|title=Possible 'showstoppers' shadow 3G patent pool |publisher=eetimes.com |access-date=2012-06-24|date=21 May 1999|quote=''Even so, Qualcomm (San Diego) is still a wild card in the patent-pooling effort. Qualcomm was a member of the UMTS group when it was formed in February 1998, but deactivated its membership last September.''}}</ref>