Comment of the Global Antitrust Institute, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, on the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and National Institute of Standards Draft Policy Statement on Licensing Negotiations and Remedies for Standards-Essential Patents Subject to Voluntary F/RAND Commitments

10 Pages Posted: 8 Feb 2022

See all articles by Alexander Raskovich

Alexander Raskovich

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty

Joshua D. Wright

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty

Douglas H. Ginsburg

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty

Bruce H. Kobayashi

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School

John M. Yun

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty

Abbott B. Lipsky

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School

Date Written: February 4, 2022

Abstract

We submit this comment in response to the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and National Institute of Standards and Technology to comment on the proposed Draft Policy Statement (DPS) on Licensing Negotiations and Remedies for Standards-Essential Patents Subject to F/RAND Commitments (December 6, 2021). The DPS proposes an entirely new and apparently self-defeating meaning of the term “good-faith negotiations,” one which would tend to undermine the functioning of good-faith negotiations as traditionally understood for the licensing of F/RAND-encumbered SEPs. As we discuss, the DPS appears to propose an antitrust policy that would fundamentally distort negotiations over F/RAND-encumbered SEP licensing in ways that would tend to chill incentives to innovate and lessen dynamic competition to the detriment of both consumers of final goods and of growth in the broader economy.

Keywords: antitrust, standard essential patents (SEPs), standard setting organizations (SSOs), standard development organizations (SDOs), FRAND, patent holdup & holdout, patent injunctions, USPTO, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, National Institute of Standards and Technology, F/RAND, DOJ

JEL Classification: K2, K20

Suggested Citation

Raskovich, Alexander and Wright, Joshua D. and Ginsburg, Douglas H. and Kobayashi, Bruce H. and Yun, John M. and Lipsky, Abbott B., Comment of the Global Antitrust Institute, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, on the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and National Institute of Standards Draft Policy Statement on Licensing Negotiations and Remedies for Standards-Essential Patents Subject to Voluntary F/RAND Commitments (February 4, 2022). George Mason Law & Economics Research Paper No. 22-02, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4027061 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4027061

Alexander Raskovich

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty ( email )

3301 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

Joshua D. Wright

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty ( email )

3301 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

Douglas H. Ginsburg

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ( email )

333 Constitution Ave NW
Room 5523
Washington, DC 20001
United States

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty ( email )

3301 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

Bruce H. Kobayashi

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School ( email )

3301 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
United States
703-993-8034 (Phone)
703-993-8088 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://mason.gmu.edu/~bkobayas

John M. Yun (Contact Author)

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty ( email )

3301 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

Abbott B. Lipsky

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School ( email )

3301 Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
United States

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