FTC Announces Hearing On Patent "Hold Up" In Standards Setting

On 10 May 2011, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it will be conducting a workshop on the specific problem of patent "hold up" in standard-setting organizations (SSOs).¹ This workshop, which is open to the public, will take place at the FTC in Washington, D.C. on 21 June 2011. We plan to attend the workshop to monitor these developments on behalf of interested clients and to assist clients in considering or preparing comments for the workshop.

The FTC and Department of Justice (DOJ) have recognized that the standard-setting process furthers innovation and leads to better products and more competition. However, they have also expressed concern that SSOs can raise antitrust risk. Once a certain technology is incorporated into a standard, it can make it more difficult for a manufacturer to switch to another technology later. If the technology is protected by intellectual property rights that were not disclosed to the SSO before the technology was