Telecom standards face patent ambush threat – ZDNet UK News

« We have an ongoing investigation. The issue we’re looking at is the standards setting procedures at ETSI and the transparency of its procedures. The concern we have is a lack of transparency could lead to patent ambush situations. »

A patent ambush involves a company withholding information about patents held around a proposed standard. If this standard is agreed, companies are forced to pay royalties to the holder of the patent if they wish to implement the standard.