What do antitrust laws have to do with intellectual property?
Antitrust laws prevent the public from being subjected to restraint of trade, illegal monopolies, price fixing, and price discrimination. Any business practicing these activities usually causes the public to pay more for goods and services. Some of these activities drive competition out of the marketplace and thus drive up the price of goods and services. Patent owners may run afoul of the antitrust laws in any number of different ways. For example, a patent owner may want to try to buy up the patents for all inventions similar to hers. Or a patent owner may want to require that a licensee charge a certain price for the invention when the licensee resells the invention. At one level, either of these approaches may appear to be a perfectly legitimate business purpose to someone not particularly savvy about antitrust laws. Of course, when consulted, a good patent attorney will be able to warn you about the dangers of such practices and prevent needless and expensive litigation. Go to top
