DOJ's Stance On Antitrust And Patent Law Reflects Balance

This article was originally published by Law360 and is available here and as a PDF here.

Over the past year, the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division has delivered consistent messaging about the relationship between antitrust law and intellectual property rights: Strong patent rights and competition policy are complementary, not in conflict.

Recent statements of interest filed in federal patent litigation and a March 25 policy speech by Dina Kallay, deputy assistant attorney general, underscore this point.

Through these statements, the DOJ has argued the following points:

• Patents do not automatically confer market power;
• Antitrust law should not be used to police ordinary patent disputes or licensing negotiations; and