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No License, No Problem – Is Qualcomm’S Ninth Circuit Antitrust Victory A Patent Exhaustion Defeat?, Jorge L. Contreras, Jorge L. Contreras
No License, No Problem – Is Qualcomm’S Ninth Circuit Antitrust Victory A Patent Exhaustion Defeat?, Jorge L. Contreras, Jorge L. Contreras
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
The Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in FTC v. Qualcomm (9th Cir., Aug. 11, 2020) is generally viewed as a resounding victory for Qualcomm. But in praising Qualcomm’s egalitarian approach toward rival chip makers, the Ninth Circuit points out that instead of granting licenses to these rivals, Qualcomm merely “declines to enforce its patents” against them “even though they practice Qualcomm’s patents”. As such, the Ninth Circuit states that Qualcomm’s “policy toward rival chipmakers could be characterized as ‘no license, no problem’”. Yet, from the standpoint of patent exhaustion, this approach could actually be a very big problem, not only for …
Pledging Intellectual Property For Covid-19, Jorge L. Contreras
Pledging Intellectual Property For Covid-19, Jorge L. Contreras
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
COVID-19 differs from other recent public health crises with respect to its sudden onset, its rapid spread, the lack of any known vaccine or cure and resulting shortages of critical medical equipment. The convergence of these factors has prompted both governments and IPR holders around the world to seek ways to increase the availability of IPR necessary to combat the pandemic. Governmental compulsory licensing, IPR pools and voluntary IPR pledges have all been used in the past, though in situations that differ in important respects from the COVID-19 pandemic. Each is designed to result, to a greater or lesser degree, …
Financial Terms In License Agreements, Jorge L. Contreras
Financial Terms In License Agreements, Jorge L. Contreras
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
This chapter in the forthcoming casebook Intellectual Property Licensing and Transactions: Theory and Practice (2020, forthcoming), discusses the financial terms of IP licensing agreements including fixed payments, running royalties, sublicensing income, milestone payments, equity compensation and cost reimbursement, as well as most-favored and audit clauses. Numerous areas of recent controversy are addressed including the establishment of royalty rates through the entire market value rule (EMVR) versus the smallest salable patent practicing unit (SSPPU) rule, royalties for bundled rights, rules of thumb discredited by the courts, royalty escalation clauses and more. Examples are drawn primarily from biotechnology, high-tech and copyright licensing …
First Sale And Exhaustion, Jorge L. Contreras
First Sale And Exhaustion, Jorge L. Contreras
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
This chapter in the forthcoming case book "Intellectual Property Licensing and Transactions: Theory and Practice" addresses issues of first sale and exhaustion for licensing transactions involving patents, copyrights and trademarks. Among the issues considered are licensing versus sale of software, patent exhaustion, post-sale restrictions, international exhaustion and gray market imports.
Antitrust And Competition Issues, Jorge L. Contreras
Antitrust And Competition Issues, Jorge L. Contreras
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
This Chapter offers a broad overview of the impact of U.S. antitrust laws on IP licensing and transactions. A basic understanding of antitrust law is critical to the analysis of IP licensing arrangements, whether concerning patents, copyrights or trademarks. This chapter offers a summary of the antitrust doctrines that arise frequently in IP and technology-focused transactions — price fixing and market allocation, resale price maintenance, tying, monopolization, refusals to deal, standard setting and pay-for-delay settlements, with coverage of the major cases and enforcement agency guidance. Antitrust issues also play a role in the analysis of joint ventures, which are discussed …
Sometimes Frand Does Mean License-To-All, Jorge L. Contreras
Sometimes Frand Does Mean License-To-All, Jorge L. Contreras
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
FRAND commitments are creations of written policy documents and contract law. Accordingly, the existence of a “License to All” obligation under a FRAND commitment must arise from the relevant policy language. Numerous SDO policies expressly impose “License to All” requirements. Some SDO policies are ambiguous with respect to this requirement and such ambiguities should be resolved based on an examination of extrinsic evidence including the intentions of policy drafters, the shared understandings of SDO participants, and the historical precedents for such policies. In many cases, an examination of these factors should lead to the conclusion that “License to All” is, …
It’S Anti-Suit Injunctions All The Way Down – The Strange New Realities Of International Litigation Over Standards-Essential Patents, Jorge L. Contreras
It’S Anti-Suit Injunctions All The Way Down – The Strange New Realities Of International Litigation Over Standards-Essential Patents, Jorge L. Contreras
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
Today’s markets for technology products — from smartphones to home appliances to automobiles — are inherently global. This is especially true of products that embody technical standards — protocols like 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB that are covered by hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of patents (so-called “standards-essential patents” or “SEPs”). Given the global scope and size of these markets, it is not surprising that patent litigation over standardized products is often conducted on a global scale. This article looks at an increasingly important aspect of these global standards wars: the ability of a court in one jurisdiction to …
Association For Molecular Pathology V. Myriad Genetics: A Critical Reassessment, Jorge L. Contreras
Association For Molecular Pathology V. Myriad Genetics: A Critical Reassessment, Jorge L. Contreras
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
The Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics is part of the Court’s recent quartet of patent eligibility decisions, which also includes Bilski v. Kappos, Mayo v. Prometheus and Alice v. CLS Bank. Each of these decisions has significantly shaped the contours of patent eligibility under Section 101 of the Patent Act in ways that have been both applauded and criticized. The Myriad case, however, was significant beyond its impact on Sec-tion 101 jurisprudence. Perhaps one of the most remarkable things about Myriad is that it meant so many different things to so many different …
Patent Fakes: How Fraudulent Inventions Threaten Public Health, Innovation, And The Economy, Jorge L. Contreras
Patent Fakes: How Fraudulent Inventions Threaten Public Health, Innovation, And The Economy, Jorge L. Contreras
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
Because there is no practical way for patent examiners to verify that the inventions claimed in patent applications actually work, a surprising number of patents are issued for inventions that have turned out to be imaginary, fraudulent or otherwise non-existent. What's more, as illustrated by the recent attempt by Labrador Diagnostics to assert a patent acquired from now-defunct Theranos against firms developing testing kits for COVID-19, these patents present a genuine threat to businesses operating in important sectors of the economy. While it is unrealistic to expect patent examiners to verify the functionality of every claimed invention, there are a …
Research And Repair: Expanding Exceptions To Patent Infringement In Response To A Pandemic, Jorge L. Contreras
Research And Repair: Expanding Exceptions To Patent Infringement In Response To A Pandemic, Jorge L. Contreras
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
The doctrinal areas on which this essay focuses are two longstanding but narrow exemptions from patent infringement: one that permits scientific research, and one that permits the owner of a patented device to repair it. Though distinct at first glance, both of these doctrines act to permit activity that would otherwise be considered patent infringement. They are exceptions to the exclusivity that the law grants to patent holders – particularly the right to “make” a patented article and, to a lesser degree, to “use” it, and for this reason they are particularly salient when patents may impact critical lifesaving technologies. …
Is Biopharma Ready For The Standards Wars?, Jorge L. Contreras
Is Biopharma Ready For The Standards Wars?, Jorge L. Contreras
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
This symposium contribution sheds new light on Momenta v. Amphastar, a recent federal case in which issues relating to standardization and patent disclosure that have previously been observed in the semiconductor, computing and telecommunications sectors found their way into a dispute between two biosimilar manufacturers. One such manufacturer, Momenta, participated in the development of a standard for testing the purity of generic enoxaparin under the auspices of the United States Pharmacopeial Convention, but failed to disclose that it had applied for a patent on the testing method. When Momenta later sued Amphastar for infringement based on its use of that …
Brief Of Amicus Curiae Professor Jorge L. Contreras In Support Of Appellee And Affirmance In Ftc V. Qualcomm, Jorge L. Contreras
Brief Of Amicus Curiae Professor Jorge L. Contreras In Support Of Appellee And Affirmance In Ftc V. Qualcomm, Jorge L. Contreras
Utah Law Faculty Scholarship
Qualcomm participated in the development of 3G and 4G wireless telecommunication standards under the auspices of two SDOs, the Telecommunications Industry Association (“TIA”) and the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (“ATIS”). Each of these SDOs had adopted intellectual property rights policies (IPR Policies) that required their participants to grant licenses of SEPs to implementers of their standards on FRAND terms. Yet, over the course of several years, Qualcomm refused to license its SEPs to numerous actual and potential modem chip rivals including MediaTek, Project Dragonfly (a joint venture of NTT DoCoMo, Samsung and several Japanese manufacturers), Samsung, VIA Telecom, Intel, …