Standards and statutes: 'Soft' law and 'hard' law

Abstract

Standards have been widely applied successfully in various areas, especially with regard with information technology. After a brief look at the process for setting standards, we will review the intellectual property and competition law issues as they regard these standards. There is also an overview of the important role of standards in establishing damages. Finally, the reasons why standards as a sort of 'soft law' are often preferred to statutes are discussed.