Description
To identify Ericsson’s patents related to Wi-Fi 6, we employed Wi-Fi 6 relevant keywords such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Target Wake Time (TWT), Basic Service Set (BSS) Color, High-Efficiency (HE), 802.11ax, 160 MHz, beamforming, spatial streams, 78.125 kHz, 1024-QAM, spatial reuse, Resource Unit (RU) allocation, etc. The CPCs used for filtering included H04W, H04W 84/12, H04W 72/04, H04W 72/12, H04W 52/02, H04W 52/36, H04W 88/08, H04B, H04B 7/06, etc.
To assess a patent’s essentiality, each claim is manually analysed by our technical expert team with respect to the Wi-Fi 6 standard to verify whether all claim elements are present. We have classified a patent as potentially essential, potentially non-essential, or medium based on the following criteria:
- A patent is classified as potentially essential if claim elements align with the Wi-Fi 6 specifications.
- Conversely, the patent is classified as potentially non-essential if any element is missing or conflicts with the standard, such as contradictory requirements or descriptions.
- A patent is marked as medium if the main technical aspects are present in the Wi-Fi 6 standard, but some elements are not explicitly defined and can only be reasonably inferred from the identified sections.
Frequently asked questions
What does this Ericsson Wi-Fi 6 report include?
It analyses Ericsson’s patent portfolio in relation to the Wi-Fi 6 standard. A total of 30 unique and active patent families were identified for Ericsson through searches across multiple patent databases. Each claim in that set is analysed manually against the Wi-Fi 6 standard by a technical expert team to verify whether all claim elements are present, and the patents are then classified by likely essentiality. The report sets out the search approach, the keyword and classification filters used, and the outcome for each family.
Why does the search stop at a February 2021 priority date?
The Wi-Fi 6 standard was officially published in February 2021, so the search focused exclusively on patents with a priority date on or before that month. A filing made after publication is unlikely to be essential to the standard in the usual sense, because the technical solution was already fixed in the specification. Using the publication month as the cutoff keeps the candidate set aligned with the standard and avoids filling the result with later filings that address different problems.
What does potentially essential mean here?
A patent is classified as potentially essential when its claim elements align with the Wi-Fi 6 specifications. It is classified as potentially non-essential when an element is missing or conflicts with the standard, such as a contradictory requirement or description. The word potential matters, because essentiality is assessed by reading claims against the published standard text, not by testing a product or by a court ruling. The classification gives a technical view that can support later commercial or legal work.
Who uses this kind of essentiality analysis?
Licensing and IP teams use it to understand what a portfolio contributes to Wi-Fi 6 before a negotiation, a pool submission or an acquisition. Technical managers use it to see which parts of the standard a portfolio touches. Buyers, sellers and investors use it as a second view on claims made about standard essential patents. The report is provided on request through the contact page, and the scope can be adjusted to fit the decision you are making.
