[derf_]

> So it's not like you can say 'all IEEE standards should be patent free'.

What? Sure you can. See the W3C patent policy, as one example: https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20200915/

That other organizations do not do that is a choice.

[rocqua]

W3C is almost pure software. That is an area where patents shouldn't exist, and luckily an area where patents are not ubiquitous.

For things like WiFi, or 5G, there is a lot more room for 'real' patents. Because there is a lot more hardware/electronics design in there. Aswell as there being a culture that is much more accepting of patents which means a lot more of the design space is covered by patents.