Title
International Roundtable onAntitrust & Intellectual Property in Standard Setting
Author
Charles T. (Chris) Compton
Date
1/01/2005
(Original Publish Date: 7/3/2002)
(Original Publish Date: 7/3/2002)
Abstract
On June 18, 2002, five committees of the ABA's Sections of International Law and Practice, Antitrust Law, Intellectual Property Law, and Business Law,1 presented an important and wide-ranging round table discussion on international standard-setting. Program Chair Randolph Tritell of the Federal Trade Commission organized a panel of distinguished speakers representing both industry and government in the United States and Europe. The program was particularly timely in light of the next day's announcement by the Federal Trade Commission of its complaint filed against Rambus, which echoes many of the standard-setting abuse issues at the heart of the Rambus v. Infineon private litigation. Almost 200 persons attended at over 17 locations. As this program's flyer pointed out, standard-setting activities often occur among competitors, raising questions under the antitrust laws. Moreover, standard-setting increasingly "involves the creation and use of intellectual property, raising issues of protection of IP rights versus the needs of the standard, and the potential for anticompetitive behavior based on the use (or misuse) of IP rights." In addition to the kind of "submarine patent" claims raised by the FTC in both Dell and Rambus, compulsory licensing policy has come into play where IP rights may have been characterized as essential facilities. This report will briefly summarize the presentations and dialog that occurred among speakers at five locations on two continents (including on a mobile phone) on June 18.
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