Antitrust Law and Intellectual Property: Intersection or Crossroad?

Philadelphia partner Paul Saint-Antoine has authored an article for The Computer & Internet Lawyer on the evolution in antitrust enforcement with respect to intellectual property transactions.  

Paul, co-chair of the firm’s Antitrust Practice Group, discusses the tension which was thought to exist between antitrust and intellectual property laws, which is in contrast to the more modern view that the two bodies of law share the common goal of promoting competition.  Since 1995, the federal enforcement agencies have made it their stated policy to treat IP as essentially comparable to any other form of property.  Paul’s article also discusses the antitrust regulation of intellectual property licensing, standard setting -- in both its de jure and de facto forms, and settlements of patent infringement litigation. He lists some practical questions that intellectual property owners and their counsel may want to ask when evaluating an intellectual property transaction from an antitrust perspective.