WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Justice's Antitrust Division and the Federal
Trade Commission today announced that their joint hearings on "Competition and Intellectual
Property Law and Policy in the Knowledge-Based Economy" will begin on Wednesday,
February 6, 2002 at 2:00 p.m. The primary focus of the hearings will be to examine the
implications of competition and patent law and policy for innovation and other aspects of
consumer welfare. The general public and press are invited to attend and view the proceedings.
Seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis with an overflow room provided for hearings at
the FTC. Written comments from interested parties may be submitted to the FTC. Available
information on the initial hearing sessions, scheduled for February and March, follows below:
February 6: Welcome and Overview of Hearings (FTC - Room 432) 2:00 p.m.
Charles James, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, Department of Justice
Timothy Muris, Chairman, Federal Trade Commission
James Rogan, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the
U. S. Patent and Trademark Office
The Honorable Pauline Newman, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Robert
Pitofsky, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, and former Chairman of
the Federal Trade Commission
Q. Todd Dickinson, Howrey, Simon, Arnold & White, and former Under Secretary of
Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Gerald Mossinghoff, Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, and former
Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks
Richard Gilbert, Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, and former
Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, Department of Justice
Richard Levin, President, Yale University
| February 8: |
Patent Law for Antitrust Lawyers (FTC - Room 432)
Antitrust Law for Patent Lawyers (FTC - Room 332) |
| 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions |
These sessions will lay the foundation for all future hearings discussions. They will
provide essential background information and identify critical issues.
| February 20: |
Economic Perspectives on Intellectual Property, Competition and
Innovation |
| 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
and 2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. (FTC - Room 432) |
These sessions will explore what economic learning reveals, and does not answer,
regarding the relationships between intellectual property and innovation, and between
competition and innovation.
| February 25 - 28: |
Business and Economic Perspectives on Real-World Experience
with Patents |
Thanks to the Competition Policy Center and the Berkeley Center for Law &
Technology of the University of California at Berkeley, hearing sessions will take
place at the Haas School of Business on the Berkeley campus.
Daily sessions will focus on business and other testimony regarding the "real-world" experience with patents and competition, as well as explore economic and business
perspectives on intellectual property, competition, and innovation.
| March 19 - 20: |
Business and Other Perspectives on Real-World Experience with
Patents (FTC - Room 432) |
Similar to the Berkeley sessions, these sessions will focus on testimony regarding
the "real-world"experience with patents and competition.
Further information about these and subsequent hearings, expected to extend through
June, will be posted on the Antitrust Division's web site www.usdoj.gov/atr/hearing.htm and the FTC's web site www.ftc.gov/opp/intellect/index.htm as it becomes available.
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