Late last week, the American Antitrust Institute submitted a very interesting petition to the U.S. Dept. of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. In the petition, which is titled “Request for Joint Enforcement Guidelines on the Patent Policies of Standard Setting Organizations,” the AAI urges these agencies to step up their enforcement of the antitrust laws with respect to SSOs themselves — not merely the participants in the standard-setting process. To that end, the AAI requests that the FTC/DOJ (1) issue specific guidelines for what should be included in SSO patent policies, and (2) hold SSOs liable for not adopting procedural safeguards to prevent patent hold-up behavior.
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American Antitrust Institute supports USPTO’s proposal for requiring more patent ownership transparency
By Essential Patent Blog on
In a letter sent to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office late last week, the American Antitrust Institute expressed its approval of the USPTO’s plan to implements rules requiring patent holders to provide more transparency regarding ownership interests in patents and patent applications. The AAI’s letter claims that, among other considerations, these transparency provisions would have positive effect on the licensing of standard-essential patents and in helping companies deal with assertions for patent assertion entities or non-practicing entities.
Continue Reading American Antitrust Institute supports USPTO’s proposal for requiring more patent ownership transparency