RPX Empower Launches New SEP Explorer Module

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — June 16, 2026 — RPX Empower announced the launch of SEP Explorer, the newest intelligence module within the RPX Empower platform. Designed to address one of the most complex challenges in intellectual property management, the module streamlines the discovery, analysis, and visualization of declared and potentially relevant Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) across the spectrum of modern connectivity and media standards.

As global industries increasingly depend on interoperable technologies—from Wi-Fi 7 and 5G cellular networks to Qi wireless charging and advanced video codecs—the SEP licensing landscape has grown exponentially in complexity. Opaque ownership, inconsistent declarations, and fragmented pool structures have made it difficult for organizations to assess risk, value and negotiate licenses, and defend against assertions with confidence. The Empower SEP Explorer module was built to directly address these challenges.

“The SEP landscape has never been more complex, and the stakes for getting it wrong—in licensing disputes, litigation, and standards strategy—have never been higher. Empower SEP Explorer gives IP professionals the intelligence infrastructure to navigate this landscape with precision and confidence.” — Steve Chiang, Chief IP and SaaS Officer, RPX Corporation.

Key Capabilities and Differentiators

Unlike conventional patent search tools, Empower SEP Explorer is purpose-built for the declared and undeclared SEP ecosystem—combining machine intelligence designed and tested by human experts in patent, technology, and licensing to deliver results that are both scalable and defensible.

Automated Essentiality Verification

Leveraging AI, the module enables users to evaluate whether a patent claim genuinely reads on the technical specifications of a declared standard. This capability dramatically reduces the time and cost associated with manual claim-chart review, enabling legal and technical teams to triage large portfolios at scale.

Licensing and Negotiation Optimization

Access to human-verified patent collections relevant to various standards, contribution, and patent pool data, as well as secondary market transaction data allows licensing executives and business development professionals to construct data-backed negotiating positions—quantifying portfolio strength and benchmarking against industry norms.

Competitive Landscape Mapping

Interactive visualization tools map the declared or potential SEP holdings of competitors and market participants across key technology areas. This enables organizations to identify opportunities for portfolio development, assess concentration risk, and monitor patenting trends across emerging standards such as Wi-Fi 7 and 5G.

Integrated Litigation Strategy

By connecting SEP data directly with Empower’s broader Litigation Defense and Patent Analytics modules, users can assess the likelihood of patent assertion, identify historically active enforcement portfolios, and develop informed defensive strategies—all from within a unified platform. This prevents subscribers from needing to subscribe to multiple software platforms, context switching between them, by consolidating all critical analysis in one comprehensive solution.

Empower SEP Explorer is engineered to serve the needs of diverse stakeholders operating at the intersection of technology standards and patents. To learn more about RPX Empower SEP Explorer, or to schedule a demo, contact us.