USPTO and DOJ to File Joint Statements in SEP Patent Cases: Working Group Co-Chair Reveals New Policy Direction

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are set to file joint government statements of interest in standard-essential patent (SEP) litigation, according to a policy disclosure made by Nicholas Matich, co-chair of the USPTO’s SEP Working Group, in an interview published by IAM Media. The initiative represents a significant escalation of direct federal engagement in SEP disputes at a time when global 6G standardization is shaping the next generation of licensing battlegrounds.

Matich, who serves as USPTO Solicitor, stated that the two agencies will coordinate to submit “joint antitrust-USPTO statements of interest” in patent cases involving SEPs where the government determines its perspective would be useful to the court. He also indicated that SEP litigants are welcome to bring “deserving matters” to the government’s attention—signaling an open-door posture toward formal intervention in disputes that raise significant policy questions about FRAND licensing terms.

Background: The SEP Working Group and U.S. Policy

The USPTO established its SEP Working Group to consolidate input from patent holders, implementers, standards development organizations (SDOs), and consumer advocates, with the goal of developing clearer guidance on SEP licensing practices. The working group’s activities have been closely watched by industry participants who see U.S. government policy as potentially shifting the balance in licensing negotiations between SEP holders and technology manufacturers.

Standard-essential patents are patents that cover technology necessarily implemented in major technical standards such as 5G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Holders of such patents are typically obligated under SDO policies to license them on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms. In practice, disputes over what constitutes FRAND frequently lead to litigation, particularly in the United States, Europe, and China.

Alignment with DOJ’s Antitrust Posture

Matich’s announcement closely tracks a position articulated by the DOJ at the CSIS LeadershIP 2026 conference in early April, where Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kallay described FRAND obligations as an “antitrust safety valve” for the standards development ecosystem. Taken together, the two agencies appear to be developing a unified federal stance: that FRAND commitments carry genuine legal force under both patent and antitrust frameworks, and that government intervention is appropriate in cases where those commitments are alleged to have been breached or circumvented.

This represents a departure from earlier periods in which the U.S. government maintained a relatively hands-off posture in SEP disputes, particularly with respect to injunctive relief. The current approach suggests that courts can expect more frequent government participation in high-stakes SEP cases, with coordinated messaging from both the competition and intellectual property sides of the federal apparatus.

6G and the Expanding SEP Landscape

The policy shift is occurring against the backdrop of 6G standardization, which was a central topic at IPBC Europe 2026, held in Berlin in April. Senior representatives from Ericsson, InterDigital, Nokia, and Qualcomm addressed the conference’s implications for SEP licensing, noting that 6G is expected to penetrate deep into vertical markets—including industrial IoT, autonomous vehicles, and smart city infrastructure—far beyond the handset and tablet markets that have historically defined SEP licensing exposure.

As the value at stake in SEP licensing grows, and the number of industries subject to SEP claims expands, the question of what government intervention in these disputes should look like becomes correspondingly more significant. The joint USPTO-DOJ statement mechanism could become a regular feature of major SEP litigation, shaping how courts understand the public interest dimensions of FRAND disputes.

What to Watch

The key questions going forward are which cases the agencies will choose to intervene in, and what FRAND interpretation principles their statements will advocate. Equally important is the reaction from major SEP holders, many of whom—including European and Asian telecoms companies—may now need to factor more active U.S. government involvement into their global licensing strategies. For Japanese companies with significant SEP portfolios or substantial exposure as SEP implementers, the evolving U.S. policy environment warrants close monitoring.

Further information on USPTO SEP policy is available on the USPTO’s standard-essential patents page. The IAM interview with Nicholas Matich was published on IAM Media.