Patent Licenses That Restrain Price: New Wrinkles and Old Doctrine
April 01, 2005
Price fixing arrangements have been held to be clear violations of the antitrust laws for many years. <i>United States v. Socony-Vacuum Oil Co.</i>, 310 U.S. 150, 223 (1940) ("Under the Sherman Act a combination formed for the purpose and with the effect of raising, depressing, fixing, pegging, or stabilizing the price of a commodity in interstate or foreign commerce is illegal <i>per se</i>"). Whether a creative patent license agreement that impacts price constitutes a price fixing arrangement is, however, often less than clear. This article discusses the Supreme Court and Courts of Appeals cases that set the stage for the types of patent licensing arrangements that will be seen as price fixing, and provides an overview of the Department of Justice's take on patent licensing arrangements and how it will scrutinize such arrangements under the antitrust laws. Finally, this article reviews recent case law discussing the intersection of patent and antitrust law.
What Class Action Reform Means to the Franchising Industry
April 01, 2005
Franchise attorneys say that the new federal Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 ("CAFA") will be beneficial to franchisors, but they do not predict that the new law means the end of class action litigation between franchisors and franchisees, nor by consumers or employees against franchise systems. In fact, some attorneys suggest that CAFA might result in more litigation, as plaintiffs file lawsuits in individual states rather than seeking national class action status through a case brought before a state court.
Second Annual Best of Visual Identity Innovators
March 30, 2005
Once again this year Marketing The Law Firm is presenting its Best of Visual Identity Innovators. This competition was open only to law firms of all sizes. The graphic design firm or those responsible for the creative side of the project receive "honorable mention."
Is It Forgettable, Or Is It Memorable?
March 30, 2005
Memorability is what matters most in advertising. To be memorable, the advertising must be credible. Distinct. And most of all, relevant to the self-interest of the audience by which the advertiser wants to be remembered. <br>The question is: Why isn't most law firm advertising more memorable?
Letter From the Editor
March 30, 2005
I'm so thrilled to present our Second Annual Best of Visual Identity Innovators. We received quite a few entries and it was difficult to pick the best,…
Dilemma over Drug Safety
March 30, 2005
There is a newly urgent push from outside the pharmaceutical research and development community to get drug firms and the government to disclose the results of all tests conducted on new drugs and to immediately reveal information about problems that develop after those drugs go on the market. Consumers and health care providers say they're tired of finding out belatedly that negative information has come to light about the drugs they take or prescribe.
The TAP Pharmaceutical Acquittals
March 30, 2005
In 2001, the U.S. Attorney in Boston charged TAP Pharmaceutical Products Inc. (TAP) with conspiring to provide urologists with thousands of free samples of Lupron', for which the doctors billed Medicare and their patients. In order to survive and continue selling its blockbuster product for advanced prostate cancer, TAP made a reasoned decision to pay the government $885 million to resolve both civil and criminal charges. With this resolution, Boston's talented federal prosecutors continued their remarkable success in bringing major pharmaceuticals to their knees and reaching landmark settlements.
