Public Hearing in Berkeley, California, to Focus on Intellectual Property

The Federal Trade Commission today announced the fifth and final hearing in a series exploring the evolving market for intellectual property. This hearing will be held May 4-5, 2009, on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley, in cooperation with the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology [http://www.law.berkeley.edu/institutes/bclt/] and the Berkeley Competition Policy Center [http://iber.berkeley.edu/cpc/]. It will explore how markets for patents and technology operate in different industries, whether those markets operate efficiently, and how patent policy might be adjusted to respond to problems in those markets in order to better promote innovation and competition.

This hearing is part of an ongoing series examining changes in patent law, patent-related business models, and new learning about the operation of markets for IP and technology since the October 2003 Commission report on the patent system, “To Promote Innovation: The Proper Balance of Competition and Patent Law and Policy.” [http://www.ftc.gov/os/2003/10/innovationrpt.pdf]

The hearing will be held at the Haas School of Business, Wells Fargo Room, 2220 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, California. It is free and open to the public. Registration is not required. An agenda is available on the hearings Web site [http://www.ftc.gov/bc/workshops/ipmarketplace] and as a link to this press release.

The Commission is seeking public comments on all issues discussed throughout the entire series of hearings, and in response to any of the topics raised in the Federal Register notice announcement for the project. Comments must be received by May 15, 2009, and should refer to “Evolving IP Marketplace - P093900.” The Federal Register notice and information on how to submit written and electronic comments to the Commission are available at the Web site for the hearings, http://www.ftc.gov/bc/workshops/ipmarketplace.

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.

(FYI data security)