This chapter summarized the relevant concerns, the methodology applied and the salient conclusions, and recommends the development an international expert-led soft law instrument dealing with access to interoperability standards and SEIP.

The introduction explains the concerns existing in relation to access to interoperability standards and standards-essential intellectual property. The thesis is then explained and an expert-led international instrument is proposed to address the concerns identified. The topical methodology is introduced and explained. Rather than proceeding in rigidly Cartesian fashion, the work instead outlines relevant topoi or topics, such as protection under intellectual property and competition law, as well as comparison of leading jurisdictions and law and economic analysis. The parallels between the topical jurisprudence and methodologies pursued in the law of equity, notably within the common law tradition as well as in international law are noted. A brief summary of each chapter is provided.

This chapter outlines the nature of standards, with a particular focus on interoperability or compatibility standards. Standards in concept are introduced. A typology of standards is provided, which distinguishes between ‘interoperability’ or ‘compatibility’ standards and other types of standards, as well as between formal and de facto standards. The concept of an interoperability or compatibility standard is then examined in more detail. The work then examines and discusses some noteworthy interoperability standards, both from within and outside the field of information and communications technology (ICT). The key fora for the creation of interoperability standards are surveyed. The highly variegated nature of the interoperability standards-setting landscape is emphasized, as well as the relative ease with which standard-setting initiatives can migrate from one forum to another. The economic characteristics of interoperability standards are examined, in particular demand-side economies of scale or ‘network effects’, both direct and indirect (the latter being of primary importance to the work).