Intellectual Property and Antitrust

Featuring:

F. Scott Kieff
Professor of Law
Washington University, St. Louis 

Click Here to listen to audio archive.

Antitrust laws apply to virtually all industries and are designed to prohibit a variety of practices that achieve or maintain monopoly power.  In a similar but distinct vein, intellectual property laws – including patents, trademarks, and copyrights – are designed to provide inventors with incentives to create by granting them exclusive property rights and legal protection (monopolies) to their ideas, concepts, and innovations. 

While each of these bodies of law is important in its own right, controversies often arise at their intersection.  Specifically, small nuances in the interpretation and application of antitrust and IP law can greatly affect innovation, creativity, and other aspects of consumer welfare.  Because the boundaries of antitrust and IP are easily blurred, Congress, the courts, and federal agencies regularly debate which body of law should apply and under which circumstances.

As part of Capitol Hill Campus’ ongoing Law, Economics, and Policy Series, this session is designed to bring clarity to the bottom line concerns at play in the recent debates on this topic.  Professor Kieff will introduce policymakers to the world of intellectual property and antitrust and offer an historical, legal and economic framework with which policymakers might fully assess the complex issues at hand.

If you are an attorney in need of CLE credit*, or if you are a someone who is interested in learning more about intellectual property and antitrust law, you will find this course a valuable use of your time.  The session is designed specifically for Congressional Counsel, but is open to all interested senior ranking Hill staff.