One of the most complex and important issues involving antitrust and intellectual property involves agreements by which brand-name drug firms pay generics to stay off the market. In its Actavis decision (and in contrast to multiple appellate court decisions), the Supreme Court affirmed that this behavior can violate the antitrust laws. This post for IP … Continue reading The Supreme Court’s Actavis Decision, Or Why Pay-for-Delay Litigation Just Got More Active…
Category: Blog
Scandalous Privatization of Noncommercial TV Spectrum
About 20% of the hugely valuable TV spectrum — slated for auction in 2014 — is reserved for noncommercial stations. Only noncommercial stations (mostly owned by universities and community non-profits) can operate on this spectrum and when they sell, they must sell to other eligible noncommercial operators. Two years ago, Congress made the fateful … Continue reading Scandalous Privatization of Noncommercial TV Spectrum…
Toll-free Broadband and the Public Interest
We are entering a digital world in which some broadband content will be delivered to consumers toll-free and other content will come at a cost. The cost won’t be in the form of a subscription charge, but in broadband usage fees charged by the wireless or wireline provider. Those companies — such as Disney — … Continue reading Toll-free Broadband and the Public Interest…
Who’s a Journalist and the New Public Media
In the last week, the meaning of journalism and journalist has expanded. Inside Climate News won Pulitzer Prize for national reporting… without a traditional newsroom. It’s a nonprofit organization in Brooklyn with seven employees and the mission “to produce clear, objective stories that give the public and decision-makers the information they need to navigate the heat … Continue reading Who’s a Journalist and the New Public Media…
Ars Technica op ed on what antitrust can do about patent trolls
US antitrust regulators have recently developed great interest in patent trolls, which they have taken to calling “patent assertion entities” or PAEs. But it seems like they still haven’t decided what to do about trolls. At recent hearings, critics lamented extortion-like demands, while supporters proclaimed trolls’ benefits to “invention markets.” While they haven’t yet settled … Continue reading Ars Technica op ed on what antitrust can do about patent trolls…