The European Patent Office (EPO), the European Committee of Standardization (CEN) and the European Committee for Electro-technical Standardization (CENELEC) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to enhance the support they provide to industry and stakeholders in Europe and beyond in the field of standard-essential patents.

This is the first MoU between the organizations who will now work together to enhance knowledge about the relationship between standardization and patents. The purpose of this collaboration is to support inventors, innovators, researchers and industry on standard-essential patents (SEPs) in different areas of technology by promoting the dissemination of technical standards including relevant patented technologies. The agreement complements the established co-operation in this field between the EPO, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the European Commission (EC). 

The ETSI Technical Committee on Cybersecurity (TC CYBER) has released the first globally applicable cyber security standard for consumer Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The standards, ETSI TS 103 645, establishes a security baseline for internet-connected consumer products and provide a basis for future IoT certification schemes.

As more devices in the home connect to the internet, the cyber security of IoT is becoming a growing concern. ETSI’s new specification, TS 103 645, addresses this issue and specifies high-level provisions for the security of internet-connected consumer devices and their associated services. 

The standard requires implementers to forgo the use of universal default passwords, which have been the source of many security issues. It also requires implementation of a vulnerability disclosure policy to allow security researchers and others to report security issues. As many IoT devices and services process and store personal data, this specification can help ensure that these are compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).