The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice are teaming up to look at the patent troll problem. Initially, the FTC and the DOJ are seeking public comment regarding the impact of trolls (or “patent assertion entities”). You can send public comments to ATR.LPS-PAEPublicComments@usdoj.gov until March 10, 2013. In addition to seeking public comments, the FTC and DOJ are hosting a free, public workshop on Monday, December 10. The all day workshop will bring together top minds from across the industry, including:
- Professor Colleen Chien, Santa Clara University School of Law
- Professor David Schwartz, Chicago-Kent School of Law
- Cynthia Bright, Associate General Counsel, IP Litigation and Public Policy, Hewlett-Packard
- Scott Burt, Vice President & Chief Intellectual Property Counsel, Mosaid Technologies, Inc.
- John Desmarais, Partner, Desmarais LLP; Founder, Round Rock Research LLC
- Peter Detkin, Founder and Vice-Chairman, Intellectual Ventures
- Sarah Guichard, Vice President of Patent & Standards Strategy, Research In Motion (RIM)
- Paul Melin, Chief Intellectual Property Officer, Nokia
- Neal Rubin, Vice President Litigation, Cisco Systems Inc.
- Alan Schoenbaum, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Rackspace Hosting
- Mallun Yen, Executive Vice President, RPX Corporation
With such an interesting mix of speakers (click here for the agenda), the FTC and DOJ have set up a very interesting day. I am working on rearranging some obligations so that I can attend, and I hope to see you there.