Make way for the internet of things

Growing interest in the interoperability of household appliances and the difference this could make to our everyday lives, is leading to calls for new "standards" to be introduced to accelerate the way to the internet of things. Much like those used in other areas of industry where technology sharing is important, such as the telecoms sector, innovators in the consumer electronics sector and other hi-tech industries believe that the use of Europe-wide "standards essential patents", could help to protect innovators' routes to market and encourage research and development (R&D) investment.