Academic Conference: Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy for 5G and the Internet of Things


2021 5G conference flyer

 

The Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy presented a conference on

Intellectual Property and Innovation Policy for 5G and the Internet of Things

Thursday, December 2,
& Friday, December 3

Hosted Both In-Person At & Virtually From
George Mason University
Antonin Scalia Law School

Arlington, Virginia

9 Hours VA CLE Approved

 


Session recordings are available both on this page and on YouTube.
For notifications, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel here.


CONFERENCE DESCRIPTION

The global technology ecosystem stands at a historical point of transition between, on the one hand, 3G- and 4G-enabled technologies, which launched transformative changes in audio and video communications, and on the other hand, 5G-enabled technologies, which will enable transformative changes in a broader array of environments, encompassing communication, transportation, health care, and industrial production. The vast increases in bandwidth and decreases in latency brought by 5G-enabled technologies will enable novel business models that exploit person-to-person, person-to-machine, and machine-to-machine pathways.

This conference attempted to preemptively identify and analyze the key mechanisms through which intellectual property (“IP”) and competition law can supply a robust institutional infrastructure for the growth and development of this emergent Internet of Things (“IOT”) that will encompass substantial areas of business and consumer activities. Specifically, we focused on the role played by IP and competition law and policy in supporting the dual function of patents and other IP rights in both promoting research and development and disseminating the resulting innovations among a broad population of intermediate and end users. Our speakers discussed how SEP licensing markets “work” in practice, considered steps policymakers can take to promote efficient licensing markets in multi-dimensional IOT environments, and provided practical insights into licensing arrangements that markets may adopt in transmitting 5G-enabled technologies from innovators to implementers and end users. Additionally, we covered issues that are of interest to regulators, scholars, and practitioners in Europe, Asia, and other regions. This conference and the corresponding book in this area are meant to be a comprehensive and “state-of-the-art” resource for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners on IP and competition law and policy in 5G/IOT environments around the world.


CONFERENCE MATERIALS

Conference Program

CLE Materials


CONFERENCE PROGRAM

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2021

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time Zone (EDT)

7:45 – 8:45 AM:   REGISTRATION  

Attendees and speakers will need to take the Mason COVID Health Check before coming to campus on both days of the conference and show the auto-response email at registration in order to enter.

8:45 – 9:00 AM:   OPENING REMARKS

    • Jonathan Barnett, Torrey H. Webb Professor of Law, University of Southern California Gould School of Law; Senior Fellow for Innovation Policy & Senior Scholar, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy
    • Joshua A. Kresh, Managing Director, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School
    • Sean M. O’Connor, Professor of Law, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty Director, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy

PART 1: SEP ENFORCEMENT AND LICENSING ISSUES IN IOT MARKETS

9:00 – 10:30 AM:   PANEL 1: SEP ENFORCEMENT AND FRAND LICENSING

This panel addressed issues arising under U.S. Patent law relating to the enforcement and licensing of standard-essential patents in 5G/IOT-enabled market, along with FRAND licensing commitments under U.S., British, and European law.

    • Andrei Iancu, Partner, Irell & Manella LLP, Senior Adviser, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Former Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, USPTO
    • J. Gregory Sidak, Founder and Chairman, Criterion Economics, Inc.
    • Jeffrey M. Wilder, Economics Director of Enforcement, The United States Department of Justice
    • Commentator: Brian Hinman, Chief Commercial Officer, Aon Intellectual Property Solutions

10:30 – 10:50 AM:   MORNING BREAK

10:50 AM – 12:20 PM:   PANEL 2: PATENT HOLDUP AND HOLDOUT – ROYALTY STACKING AND COMPARABLE LICENSES

This panel discussed theoretical arguments and empirical evidence regarding patent holdup and holdout in wireless markets. The panel also discussed how patent licensing has supported the dissemination of wireless communications technologies by enabling and securing information flows between innovators and implementers. The panel further discussed conventional wisdom among regulators and cast doubt on the necessity for judicial or regulatory intervention in SEP licensing markets.

    • Alexander Galetovic, Research Fellow, Hoover Institution; Senior Fellow, Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez
    • Dr. Jorge Padilla, Senior Managing Director and Head, Compass Lexecon Europe
    • Commentator: Dr. Kirti Gupta, Vice President, Economic Strategy | Chief Economist, Qualcomm

12:20 – 1:40 PM:   LUNCH & KEYNOTE ADDRESS

    • Hon. Prof. F. Scott Kieff, Fred C. Stevenson Research Professor, George Washington University Law School, Former Commissioner, U.S. International Trade Commission; Senior Scholar, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy

1:45 – 3:15 PM:   PANEL 3: EFFICIENT INFRINGEMENT

This panel addressed the “deterrence crisis” that has emerged as a result of the practical unavailability of injunctive relief for SEP owners and other significant categories of U.S. patent owners. In a no-injunction environment, well-resourced users have little incentive to pay a license up front; rather, these firms rationally elect to infringe and effectively “negotiate” the licensing rate through litigation. To correct this imbalance, the panel discussed whether courts should award enhanced damages against infringers in the event the patent owner has no realistic expectation of securing an injunction. The panel also documented cases of efficient infringement, showing how current patent doctrine has induced certain firms to engage in this practice, and analyzed the extent to which this practice is impacting innovation incentives in certain segments of the technology ecosystem.

    • Jonathan Barnett, Torrey H. Webb Professor of Law, University of Southern California Gould School of Law; Senior Fellow for Innovation Policy & Senior Scholar, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy
    • David J. Kappos, Partner, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, New York, Former Director, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
    • Kristen Jakobsen Osenga, Austin E. Owen Research Scholar & Professor of Law, University of Richmond School of Law; Senior Scholar, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy
    • Commentator: Dr. Anne Layne-Farrar, Vice President, Charles River Associates, Vice Chair, International Comments & Policy Committee, American Bar Association, Adjunct Professor, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law

3:15 – 3:35 PM:   AFTERNOON BREAK

3:35 – 5:05 PM:   PANEL 4: PRACTICAL TOPICS IN FRAND LICENSING (AUTOMOTIVE FOCUS)

This panel addressed emergent SEP licensing practices in the automotive and related mobility markets––specifically, the extent to which market-driven solutions are available to preempt potential transaction roadblocks arising from the intensive use of SEPs in 5G/IOT-enabled mobility markets. The panel will discussed specifics of licensing in various IOT verticals––in particular, that the wider use of connectivity standards in various IOT verticals means on the one hand that SEP owners must negotiate licenses for a broad range of different products with an increasing number of implementers, many of which are less familiar with technology standards and SEP licensing, whereas on the other hand implementers must take licenses from an increasing number of SEP owners for the different connectivity standards they may use in their products.

    • Bowman (Bo) Heiden, Co-Director, Center for Intellectual Property (CIP), University of Gothenburg, Visiting Professor, University of California, Berkeley
    • Keith Mallinson, Founder, WiseHarbor
    • Dr. Igor Nikolic, Research Fellow, European University Institute, Florence
    • Commentator: Luke McLeroy, Senior Vice President of Business Development, Avanci

5:05 – 5:10 PM:   CLOSING REMARKS AND CONFERENCE ADJOURNS

 

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2021

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time Zone (EDT)

7:45 – 8:45 AM:   REGISTRATION

8:45 – 9:30 AM:   MORNING REMARKS 

    • Fabian Gonell, Senior Vice President, Licensing Strategy & Legal Counsel, Qualcomm

PART 2: CREATING A LEVEL INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACE FOR SEP LICENSING

9:30 – 11:00 AM:   PANEL 5: 5G, SEPS, AND NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES (CHINA FOCUS)

This panel addressed “rule of law” issues in the adjudication of rate-setting disputes in China. This analysis encompassed a mix of patent and competition law issues, including Chinese courts’ understanding of the “abuse of dominance” concept in connection with SEP royalty rates, the influence of industrial policy on the adjudication of patent infringement litigation, and unsettled questions concerning comity principles and deference to foreign judgments, along with issues relating to the enforcement and licensing of SEPs in the Chinese market, in light of Chinese courts’ treatment of SEPs as a matter of both patent and competition law.

    • Mark A. Cohen, Distinguished Senior Fellow and Director, Asia IP and Technology Law Project, Berkeley Center for Law and Technology, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
    • Jon Putnam, Founder and Principal, Competition Dynamics
    • Commentator: Diane Rinaldo, Senior Vice President, Beacon Global Strategies LLC, Executive Director, Open RAN Policy Coalition

11:00 – 11:20 AM:   MORNING BREAK

11:20 AM – 12:50 PM:   PANEL 6: GLOBAL DIFFERENCES IN ANTITRUST TREATMENT OF SEPS AND SSOS

This panel addressed the global antitrust treatment of SEPs and FRAND obligations, as a matter of antitrust, patent, and contract law. It focused on the recent litigation in federal court between Continental, an automotive component supplier, and Nokia, a leading SEP owner, and the roughly concurrent dispute between Daimler, an automotive manufacturer, and Nokia in German courts. The panel also looked at potential antitrust and national security issues and the adequacy of existing legal and regulatory structures for this space.

    • Maureen K. Ohlhausen, Partner, Co-Chair Antitrust & Competition Law Practice Group, Baker Botts, Former Acting Chairman, Federal Trade Commission
    • Dr. David J. Teece, Thomas W. Tusher Professor in Global Business; Faculty Director, Tusher Center for The Management of Intellectual Capital, University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business
    • Commentator: John Yun, Director of Economic Education, Global Antitrust Institute, Associate Professor of Law, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School.

12:50 – 1:00 PM:   AFTERNOON BREAK

1:00 – 1:45 PM:   CONCLUDING DIALOGUE / FIRESIDE CHAT

    • Hon. Kathleen M. O’Malley, Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
    • Sean M. O’Connor, Professor of Law, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty Director, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy

1:45 – 1:50 PM:   CLOSING REMARKS

    • Sean M. O’Connor, Professor of Law, George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty Director, Center for Intellectual Property x Innovation Policy

CONFERENCE SPONSORS

2021 5G conference sponsors