European Commission Scraps Plan To Regulate Tech Patents, Al And Consumer Privacy
The proposals faced intense lobbying by industries and Big Tech
The European Commission (EC) has junked the draft rules to regulate technology patents, Artificial Intelligence (Al) and consumer privacy on messaging apps.
It stated not expecting them to receive approval from European Union (EU) lawmakers and countries, as the proposal was ‘outdated because of recent legislation’.
Proposed two years ago, to end costly and lengthy litigations, the rules included regulating standard essential patents used in technologies for telecom equipment, mobile phones, computers, connected cars and smart devices.
In its 2025 work program, the EU executive said he saw no foreseeable agreement and would assess whether another proposal should be tabled.
The patent rule pitted firms including Nokia, Ericsson and Qualcomm which own essential patents against carmakers, Apple and Google, which want to use them, with the dispute on the level of royalties.
Nokia, Ericsson and Siemens – opposing the draft rules, welcomed the move to junk it.
Nokia stated, “It would have had an adverse impact on the global innovation ecosystem, in particular the incentives for European companies to invest billions of euros each year in R&D.”
Meanwhile, the Fair Standards Alliance, whose members include BMW, Tesla, Alphabet’s Google and Amazon, stated that the Commission’s decision stunned them.
The group said, “The withdrawal sends a terrible signal to innovative businesses, who rely on a predictable and fair SEP licensing system.”
The draft rule on AI Liability Directive, proposed in 2022, was to allow consumers to sue for compensation for harm due to the fault or omission of a provider, developer or user of Al technology.
Rod Freeman, head of the global products practice at Cooley LLP said, “We should not assume the move signals a change in policy direction for the Commission on the AI regulation. We have ground-breaking new laws on the books in Europe governing Al, the impact of which we are yet to see.”
The plan which would have required Meta Platforms’ WhatsApp and Microsoft’s Skype to be subjected to the tough rules as telecoms providers regarding users’ privacy, has also been scuffled.
The e-privacy regulation, dating from 2017 has been in limbo since 2020. It sought to create a level -playing field between Big Tech and telecoms operators.
It has been stymied by disagreements between EU countries on rules for cookies tracking users’ online activities and provisions for detecting and deleting child pornography.