Last week, on July 28, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division issued a press release and business review letter (BRL) based on Avanci’s request for a BRL on Avanci’s proposed joint patent-licensing pool (the Platform) to license patent claims of 5G cellular wireless standard essential patents (SEPs) of several patent owners for use in automobile vehicles (vehicles) (to later be expanded to a pool for Internet of Things (IoT) devices) and then distribute royalties among those patent owners. A BRL provides DOJs views on whether a business model raises any competition law concerns–e.g., is the business model pro-competitive or anti-competitive–so that the business may proceed with some assurance that its activities will not violate competition laws. The focus of the BRL is competition law and does not endorse one way or another the merits or value of a business model. DOJ concludes that “Avanci’s proposed 5G Platform is unlikely to harm competition” and DOJ “has no present intention to challenge the Platform.” Below is a summary of Avanci’s request and DOJs BRL in response.
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