It’s a niche issue: Standards primarily interest tech enthusiasts. However, a ruling from the European Court of Justice (C-588/21 P) earlier this week has the potential to disrupt the existing practice and affect wide sectors of the industry. „The judgment in the so-called Malamud case calls the entire system of voluntary technical standardization into question,“ says Thomas Klindt of Noerr law firm. Other experts are less extreme in their interpretation, but industry and standardization institutions are visibly unsettled by the ruling.