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Author	Prof Le Ma
Organisation/Institution	East China University of Political Science and Law
Country	CHINA
Panel	Intellectual Property Rights
Title	SEPs Global Rate-setting after WTO Decision on ASI Dispute: What’s the Way Forward?
Abstract	With the MPIA award reversing the Panel’s decision at WTO on the ASI dispute between the EU and China, not only does it affect the courts’ consideration for issuing ASIs, but also the result will directly impact the following dispute on global rate-setting. The MPIA award reflects solid affirmation of the negative duty of a WTO Member not to frustrate the SEP holder’s exploitation of their rights and the authority’s power within other Members’ territories, which is based on a broader interpretation of TRIPS provisions relying more on the object and purpose of the agreement rather than textual and contextual meaning within the provision. Despite the temporary ease of tension among jurisdictions over ASI or global rate-setting, its impact on the SEPs licensing ecosystem is yet to be seen. When justifying global rate-setting, national courts primarily take contractual elements into account, which is under the context of private dispute. By contrast, international tribunals like the WTO panelists and arbitrators mainly consider the consistency of global rate-setting with the government’s obligation relying on treaty interpretation. These are different spectrums included in the domain of SEP licensing, and they may interact with each other. The WTO decision will undoubtedly impact national courts’ consideration or motivation to make decisions like ASI and global rate-setting, and influence the decision of SEP holders and implementers to use them as leverage for negotiation. However, whether this will benefit FRAND licensing is still uncertain. At least, ASI and global rate-setting are not only consisting of alleged measures at issue under international law, but also a necessary part of the ecosystem of SEP licensing.
Biography	Mr. Le Ma, graduated in Jilin University School of Law with LLB, LLM and PHD, is currently the Professor and Associate Dean of School of Foreign Affairs and Law at East China University of Political Science and Law (ECUPL), specialized in International Law and Intellectual Property Law. He has been widely involved in international colloquiums like the Annual Conference of the European China Law Studies Association (ECLS), Brazilian Intellectual Property Association’s (ABPI) International Congress on Intellectual Property, Asian Law Institute (ASLI) Conference and IP & Innovation Researchers of Asia (IPIRA) Conference as presenter on IP issues concerning China. He’s also the member of Scientific Committee ( http://ipresearchersasia.org/scientific-committee/ ) of IPIRA. He gives lectures at WIPO China IP Summer School. Prof. Le Ma had been assigned as the Assistant Judge in IP Court of People’s Court of Pudong New District, Shanghai China. He was the Visiting Professor of University of San Francisco School of Law, as well as the visiting scholar of Macquarie University and Queensland University of Technology. He’s also conducting as an arbitrator in esteemed arbitration institutions as HKIAC and SHAC.