Time For Tech Companies To Prepare For Increased Antitrust Enforcement And Private Litigation

To the extent tech companies thought they might be spared from increased antitrust enforcement, President Biden's Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy (the "Order") makes clear it is time to gear up. The Order portends far-reaching enforcement extending well beyond the Big Tech platform focus of the Trump administration. Whether you might expect to be a defendant or think you might have claims as a plaintiff, now is the time to prepare. 

Here are some key takeaways for tech companies. Among other changes, the Order encourages adopting new guidelines or policies relating to:

• the intersection of intellectual property and antitrust, signaling greater protections to come for implementers with a renewed emphasis on the "potential for anticompetitive extension of market power beyond the scope of granted patents" and the protection of standard-setting against abuse;