IAM: Michelle Lee Joins Iancu, Kappos and Delrahim in criticising Draft Biden FRAND Policy by Jacob Schindler
The Biden administration’s draft revision to a US policy statement on FRAND licensing negotiations and SEP remedies attracted 144 comments as of the deadline, which was Friday. In the submissions, many major corporations, research institutions, interest groups and academics will lay out their best case for or against the changes.
The arguments are always worth engaging with, but the basic position of each commenter on the questions at hand is rarely a surprise. One letter submitted yesterday, however, is likely to raise some eyebrows. Three former USPTO heads – David Kappos, Michelle Lee and Andrei Iancu – have joined Makan Delrahim and other DOJ Antitrust and NIST officials in submitting a comment critical of the Biden administration’s plans
The eight former officials’ comments say: “We have come together to express concern that the Draft Statement would upset this [SEP/FRAND] balance and threaten the standardized technology ecosystem. As currently drafted, it would severely tip the scales against SEP holders who contribute technology to standards development organizations.”