Antitrust and Patent Issues, Part 1

In our next two issues, compiled with Danny Sokol’s guidance, we’re diving into the murky waters of patents. We’re asking how to balance the need to protect competition with the desire to encourage innovation, and, in an obviously related question, how to compensate for others to use that innovation. Recent events have underscored the continuing turmoil in the field—the Ericsson and Qualcomm decisions; intensified discussion on royalties, including asking whether royalty stacking even exists; the Recent FTC IEEE letter; and others.

And do any conclusions stand out? For one, we couldn’t give all these issues sufficient attention in just one issue, so this will be part one of a two-part colloquium. But also, if you’re involved in antitrust today, this is a field you really need to understand. And reading these papers will move you a long way down that road.