In advance of our Sixth Annual Fall Conference on IP for the Next Generation of Technology, we are highlighting works on the challenges brought by the revolutionary developments in mobile technology of the past fifteen years.

Earlier this year, CPIP’s Adam Mossoff and Kevin Madigan detailed an in-depth empirical study on the troubling repercussions of policy changes at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-Standards Association (IEEE).

In a rigorous study tracking the activity of creators and owners of technologies incorporated into standards by the IEEE, Kirti Gupta and Georgios Effraimidis show how policy shifts at the IEEE have required patent owners to effectively relinquish their legal right to stop the deliberate and unauthorized uses of their property. Unfortunately, as Gupta and Effraimidis explain, the current unbalanced nature of standard setting at the IEEE is resulting in inefficient licensing negotiations and delayed standards development, and it’s threatening the development of new and innovative consumer products at a crucial time for mobile technologies.

The full Gupta & Effraimidis study is available here, and the synopsis by Adam Mossoff and Kevin Madigan can be found here.