Liege Competition and Innovation Institute Conference on Patent Holdup

The Liege Competition and Innovation Institute (LCII) is holding a half-day conference titled "Regulation 'Patent Holdup'?  An Assessment in Light of Recent Academic, Policy and Legal Evolutions" on February 29, 2016 in Brussels (link here).  Here is the conference abstract:

The patent hold-up theory has nurtured many policy developments in the past ten years. On the one hand, Standard Setting Organizations (SSOs) have been exploring changes to their licensing policies, in particular in relation to the commercial implications of FRAND pledges given by holder of Standard Essential Patents (“SEPs”). On the other hand, antitrust agencies and patent courts across the globe have been confronted with several waves of cases. Those proceedings have generated a thick, diverse and somewhat inconsistent body of caselaw on a wide array of topics, including the availability of injunctive relief, patent valuation, portfolio licensing, practicing and non-practicing entities, etc. This conference seeks to provide a 360° state of play on patent hold-up in contemporary antitrust and patent policy.

Here is the conference schedule--looks like a very interesting mix of speakers.

12.45               REGISTRATION

13.10               INTRODUCTION OF THE CONFERENCE

Melchior WATHELET, Advocate General, Court of Justice of the EU

13.20 – 13.40 KEYNOTE SPEECH

Ian FORRESTER, Judge, General Court of the EU

13.40 – 15.00 SESSION I: ACADEMIC PANEL

PATENT HOLD-UP: THEORY AND EVIDENCE

Chairman: Axel GAUTIER, Professor, LCII, University of Liege

Stephen HABER, Professor, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Pierre LAROUCHE, Professor, TILEC, University of Tilburg

Greg LANGUS, Senior Vice President, Compass Lexecon

Jorge CONTRERAS, Professor, University of Utah

15.00 – 16.20 SESSION II: IP IN STANDARD SETTING

THE VIEWS FROM POLICY MAKERS AND STAKEHOLDERS

Chairman: Gunnar WOLF, DG COMP, European Commission

Serge RAES, ETSI IPR Special Committee Vice-Chair, ITU IPR Ad

Hoc Group Chair, Rapporteur on Patent Issues, Orange

Alex ROGERS, SVP & Deputy General Counsel, Qualcomm

Yann MENIERE, Professor, Mines ParisTech

Scott KIEFF, Commissioner, US International Trade Commission

Jean BERGEVIN, Head of Unit, DG GROW [TBC]

16.20 – 16.40 COFFEE BREAK

16.40 – 18.00 SESSION III: LEGAL PANEL

TRENDS IN ANTITRUST AND IP LAW

Chairman: Peter TOCHTERMANN, Judge, Mannheim District Court

Renata HESSE, DAAG, US Department of Justice

Jorge PADILLA, Senior Managing Director, Compass Lexecon

Miguel RATO, Partner, Shearman & Sterling LLP

Josef DREXL, Professor, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and

Competition

Nicolas PETIT, Professor, LCII, University of Liege

CLOSING SPEECH – CONCLUDING REMARKS

18.00 – 18.20 Paul BELLEFLAMME, Professor, University of Louvain