|
The Intellectual Property Committee focuses on antitrust issues that
arise from the acquisition, licensing, and enforcement of patents,
copyrights, trademarks, and other forms of intellectual property, as
well as developments in patent, copyright, and intellectual property
law from the standpoint of competition policy. Although we focus
primarily on antitrust issues in the United States, the globalization
of both antitrust law and intellectual property rights has led the
Committee to expand its geographic horizons, focusing on policy and
counseling challenges that arise throughout the world.
In
recent years the Committee has presented programs at the Antitrust
Section's Spring and Annual Meetings on topics such as intellectual
property fundamentals, the patent and copyright misuse doctrines,
settlement of intellectual property litigation (particularly in the
pharmaceutical industry), unilateral refusals to license, the role of
the Federal Circuit in the evolution of antitrust doctrine, strategies
to maximize the value of intellectual property, and antitrust issues in
the licensing of intellectual property under United States and European
Union laws. We have also sponsored two-day CLE programs on antitrust
and intellectual property in four of the last six years.
Through
the Section of Antitrust Law and the American Bar Association, we also
publish written materials addressing antitrust and intellectual
property to keep Committee and Section members aware of recent
developments is a critical part of the Committee's activities. The
Committee annually prepares the Intellectual Property chapter of the
Section's Annual Review of Antitrust Law Developments and is preparing
the Intellectual Property Chapter of Antitrust Law Developments VI. The
Committee was also heavily involved in preparing The Antitrust
Counterattack in Patent Infringement Litigation published in 1994, The
1995 Federal Antitrust Guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual
Property Commentary and Text published in 1996, and Intellectual
Property Misuse: Licensing and Litigation published in 2000. In 2002,
we published a substantially more expansive version of our 1996
companion guide to the Antitrust Guidelines for the Licensing of
Intellectual Property. The Committee also publishes a newsletter,
Antitrust and Intellectual Property, twice a year for members, and in
conjunction with its listserv invites members and others to contribute
to its electronic newsletter, AT-IP Reports, which is designed to keep
members apprised of new developments. The Committee conducts
regularly-scheduled brown bag lunch programs in various cities across
the country, with call-in lines available for those in other cities, to
discuss recent developments at the intersection of antitrust and
intellectual property, in the courts, at the agencies, and in Congress.
In addition, the Committee assists the ABA's Section of
Antitrust Law (and, more broadly, the ABA) in responding to requests
for input on public policy issues relating to antitrust and
intellectual property. The Committee's members participate in the
drafting of Section and task force reports and commentaries relating to
antitrust and intellectual property, such as the 2002 Report on the
United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and comments to
the European Commission on its revised Technology Transfer Block
Exemption and IP licensing guidelines . The Committee also works
closely with the ABA Intellectual Property Law Section. The Committee
monitors and, when appropriate, comments on legislative and regulatory
intellectual property law developments in conjunction with the IPL
Section. For additional information on Committee activities or
to join the Committee, click on the links at the right. To get more
involved in Committee activities, please contact the Committee
Leadership.
|
