The American Law Institute and American Bar Association (ALI-ABA) will be offering a webcast entitled: "Quanta v. LG: What You Should Know" on July 9, 2008 from 12:00-1:00 PM (EST). The Honorable Susan G. Braden of the United States Court of Federal Claims, John W. Olivo, Jr. of Ward & Olivo, and B. Todd Patterson of Patterson & Sheridan, LLP will discuss the degree to which Quanta Computer relaxes the grip of the patent owner on downstream uses, how the decision applies to other types of patented products, and what the case says about the Supreme Court's direction in the area of patent law. According to the WestLegalEdCenter, the program will touch upon the following questions:
• How much does Quanta Computer relax the grip of the patent owner on downstream uses, especially in light of today’s complicated products?
• Has this ruling effectively limited the scope of the patent (and the patent-owner's rent-seeking behavior) to encourage innovation/competition?
• Will the decision require patent owners to carefully select the first licensee and to drive a hard bargain to get top dollar up front?
• Will doing so exclude small companies from obtaining access to a patent on which they could improve the art, thus limiting the "winners" in technology acquisition to those with the deepest pockets?
• Might the practical result of this case be to raise technology prices and exclude competitors -- the exact opposite of what the Supreme Court intended?
The webcast will also examine the following topics:
• The impact of patent exhaustion doctrine on post sale use of components substantially embodying a claimed invention.
• The scope of the "substantially embodying" test.
* Controlling downstream use via contract (as applied to and in view of antitrust issues that may stem from such contracts).
• What Quanta Computer says about the Supreme Court's mindset in relation to patent law.
The registration fee for this webcast is $149. Those interested in registering for the webcast, can do so here.
For additional information regarding the Quanta Computer decision, please see:
• "Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc. (2008)," June 9, 2008
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