Out of Sync?: DOJ’s Policy Reversal Towards SEPs Lacks Legal Support

In a series of recent statements, the US Department of Justice’s antitrust division has expressed an apparent policy shift regarding the application of competition law to the assertion of standard-essential patents subject to a commitment to license on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms. Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe partner Jay Jurata and associate Emily Luken say the seeming reversal is troubling because it is out of sync with a large and growing body of US case law.

• Patents may divide Trump’s FTC and DOJ
• Controversial new state law takes aim at excessive pharma prices

Preface

• Introduction
• FTC v Sysco/US Foods

Q&A with Noah Brumfield

White & Case partner Noah Brumfield will speak on the panel “Emerging antitrust issues in high tech” at GCR Live IP & Antitrust in California tomorrow. Here, he previews his thoughts on the Department of Justice’s “drastic and confusing shift” in views on patents and the split between European and US intellectual property enforcement.

• Q&A with Jay Jurata
• Exit interview with FTC commissioner Terrell McSweeny
• Q&A with Baker Botts partner William Lavery
• Q&A with Mike Knight

Litigators of the Week: Steven Bizar, Joseph Callow and Jay Levine

How do you convince a jury to rule in favour of three dominant producers in the egg industry after a decade-long class action suit? Lawyers at Dechert say it is about telling a convincing story and leaving the econometrics at home.

• Litigators of the Week: Weil Gotshal’s David Lender and Eric Hochstadt
• Litigators of the Week: Michael Nemelka, Aaron Panner and Derek Ho

Hot Docs: The ups and downs of horizontal shareholding and vertical enforcement

It may be icy outside, but at least the days are getting longer and we have curated a selection of the hottest docs in antitrust for you. And they run the gamut – from a study by economic academics on airline collusion; to a federal judge’s opinion in a North Dakota merger; to a Harvard University law professor who says that horizontal shareholding leads to decreased competition; to economists who have found that a high concentration in the labour market leads to a decrease in employees’ wages.

• Hot Docs: Dons and Bert and Roger and Herb
• Hot Docs: Schooling a Scholar