Whither symmetry? Antitrust analysis of intellectual property rights at the FTC and DOJ

Update on the antitrust ghost in the standard-setting machine

Richard Stern’s Micro Law column in the May-June 2005 issue of IEEE Micro (“The Antitrust Ghost in the Standard-Setting Machine”) captured the essence of a long-running obstacle to addressing the anticompetitive patent “hold-up” (the term refers to the practice of pointing a gun at someone to induce him to share his wealth) that undermines the open-standards objectives of standards developing o...

Competition Issues in the Seed Industry and the Role of Intellectual Property

The reawakened interest in competition issues in agricultural markets might appear to have found its ideal poster child in the seed industry. Concentration is high and market structure has shown remarkable dynamics over the last 15 years, with high-profile mergers and acquisitions by key players. A dominant firm— Monsanto—seems to have emerged, at least from the perspective of biotech traits pe...

Consideration of Patents during the Setting of Standards

Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) writes to express its agreement with the suggestion of the American Antitrust Institute (AAI), in its letter of January 3, 2005, that the Antitrust Modernization Commission (AMC) study and make recommendations regarding problems presented by the increasing role of patents in information technology standard-setting processes. HP presented perspectives similar to thos...

Patents and Standard-Setting Processes Statement of Scott K. Peterson, Hewlett-Packard Company for FTC/DOJ Hearings on Competition and Intellectual Property Law and Policy in the Knowledge-Based Economy

Stop ! Gentlemen ! - - - - - Analysis of FTC ’ s Success in Blocking Mergers Of US ’ s Four Largest Drug

Merger, a popular word in today’s business press, has been one of the main targets of antitrust for nearly one century. The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) and DOJ (Department of Justice) have been trying their best to prohibit mergers that may lead to less competition or the creation of a monopoly power. FTC’s latest successful action is the win against the mergers of US’s four largest drug who...