Apple has requested revisions to patent licence rules in a bid to make licensing more “more consistent and transparent”.

In a written appeal to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, (ETSI), the company has asked for more clarity over patents regarded as essential to industry should be dealt with.

The letter centres on the agreement to license technologies critical to a recognised standard, such as 3G networks or MP3 files, under fair, reasonable, anti-discriminatory and competitive terms, which is also known as Frand.

Apple has said that the problem is one of consistency and that involved parties should be able to claim an “appropriate royalty rate” and that there should be a “common royalty base”. The patent’s value, argued Apple, should be determined as a percentage of the components rather than the device as a whole.

Apple also said that patent owners should commit to a “no injunction” policy under which they do not seek to inhibit the sale of rival’s equipment on the basis of a Frand dispute.

The patents issue has been one of great contention between smart phone rivals Apple and Samsung and this appeal is said to be the result of a lawsuit in which Motorola Mobility sought 2.25% of Apple’s profits after Apple was alleged to have tried to license Motorola’s GPRS-related, Frand innovations.

It is thought that Apple is not entirely innocent in its claim with Llya Kazi from the UK’s Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys commenting: “Steve Jobs effectively declared war on Samsung and Android – so the litigation has been emotionally charged.”