The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division today announced topics, times and locations, and participants for upcoming April and May sessions of their joint hearings on "Competition and Intellectual Property Law and Policy in the Knowledge-Based Economy." These sessions will continue the agencies' inquiry into the implications of competition and patent law and policy for innovation and other aspects of consumer welfare by focusing on a number of topics central to the intersection of antitrust and intellectual property law.
The sessions that will take place on April 17 and 18 and on May 1, 14, and 22 will be held in the Great Hall of the Department of Justice's Main Building, located at 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. The general public and press are invited to attend. However, for security purposes, notice of your intention to attend the hearings and your date of birth must be given to the Department at least 24 hours in advance of the hearing date. This information should be provided to Kathleen Leicht of the Antitrust Division via e-mail at kathleen.leicht@usdoj.gov, or telephone at (202) 514-7018. Interested persons will not be admitted to the Main Justice Building without advance notice.
Visitors must enter the Main Building at the 950 Pennsylvania Avenue entrance and are required to show two forms of identification, one of which must contain a photograph. Please allow sufficient time to permit getting through the security procedures. Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
The sessions that will take place on May 2 and May 23 will be held at the Federal Trade Commission, Room 432. (Advance notice of intention to attend sessions held at the FTC is not required.)
Written comments from interested parties may be submitted to the FTC. Mail six copies of each submission to: Donald S. Clark, Office of the Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580 and e-mail an electronic copy of the submission to competitionandintellectualproperty@ftc.gov.
Available information for hearing sessions scheduled for April through May follows below.
April 17 | |
9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. | Patent Pools and Cross-Licensing: When Do They Promote or Harm Competition? Robert Potter, Chief, Legal Policy Section, Antitrust Division--Opening Remarks |
April 18 Standard-Setting Practices: Competition, Innovation and Consumer Welfare | |
9:00 a.m - 9:30 a.m. | Introduction Mark Lemley, Professor of Law, Boalt Hall, University of California, Berkeley |
9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. | Intellectual Property Strategies in Standards Activities Michael Antalics, Partner, O'Melveny & Myers, LLP |
2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. | Licensing Terms in Standards Activities Stanley M. Besen, Vice President, Charles River Associates Allen M. Lo, Director of Intellectual Property, Juniper Networks, Inc. |
May 1 (Great Hall, Department of Justice Main Building) | |
9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | The Strategic Use of Licensing: Is There Cause for Concern about Ashish Arora, Associate Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University |
May 2 A Competition View of Patent Settlements | |
Participants in this session will explore the efficiencies and competitive concerns that patent settlements may generate in a variety of industries and factual settings. | |
May 14 Antitrust Analysis of Licensing Practices | |
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | Antitrust Analysis of Specific Intellectual Property Licensing Practices Participants in this session will analyze practices such as package licensing, grant back and methods of extending the life of intellectual property rights. |
1:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. | Practical Issues Encountered in Antitrust Analysis of Licensing Practices Participants in this session will discuss what standards should be used to determine whether the licensed intellectual property right would have foreclosed the licensee from being an actual or likely potential competitor with the licensor in the absence of the license. (These sessions have been rescheduled. They were originally to occur on April 16, 2002.) |
May 22 An International Comparative Law Perspective (Great Hall, Department of Justice Main Building) | |
May 23 An International Comparative Law Perspective (Federal Trade Commission, Room 432) | |
Participants in these sessions on May 22 and 23 will discuss competition law approaches that are presently in place or are under consideration in jurisdictions outside the United States. Further information about these and subsequent hearings, expected to extend through June, will be posted on the Antitrust Division's Web site www.usdoj.gov/atr/hearing.htm and the FTC's Web site www.ftc.gov/opp/intellect/index.htm as it becomes available |
Contact Information
- Media Contact:
- Derick Rill FTC
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2472 - Staff Contact:
- Susan DeSanti,
FTC Policy Planning Division
202-326-2167
Robin Moore,
FTC Policy Planning Division
202-326-3133