Companies may decide to leave patented technologies unused for numerous reasons, a great many of them legal. The patent laws confirm a company’s right to let a patent languish, unpracticed by anyone. But companies with patents on alternative technologies may agree to enter into a joint venture: promoting and licensing one alternative while suppressing the other. These arrangements have an anticompetitive flavor, particularly where there is substantial consideration flowing to the owner of the unused alternative technology. Because the public may ultimately benefit from promoting innovation over suppression, the Note asserts the law should deter these anticompetitive joint ventures. The Note looks at three currently available legal avenues: using antitrust law as it currently stands, expanding the doctrine of patent misuse, and eliminating incentives to form suppressive joint ventures by applying patent remedies differently. Ultimately, the Note argues that courts should make these arrangements unattractive to companies by awarding only discounted damages to aggrieved suppressors. This approach, where the damages are based on what is paid to the company for its unused technology, reduces the appeal of the most anticompetitive arrangements while still adequately compensating the patentee for its right to exclude.
News & Events
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Volume 97 Lead Piece Profiled in New York Times
The Volume 97 Lead Piece, a study of how the Supreme Court treats business interests by distinguished legal scholars Lee Epstein, William M. Landes, and Richard A. Posner, was profiled in the May 5, 2013 edition of the New York Times. The story, titled Corporations Find a Friend in the Supreme Court, [...]
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Volume 98 Spring Submissions Closed
The Minnesota Law Review has closed the spring submissions period for Volume 98. Submissions for Volume 98 will reopen on Thursday, August 1. Please see the submissions page for more details.
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Volume 98 Submissions Will Open Feb. 15
The Minnesota Law Review will begin accepting submissions for Volume 98 on Friday, February 15, 2013. Please see this page for more details.
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Minnesota Law Review Announces Volume 98 Editorial Board
The Minnesota Law Review is pleased to announce its Volume 98 editorial board, headed by Editor in Chief Jake Vandelist.
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Minnesota Law Review Announces 2013 Symposium Topic
The Minnesota Law Review is pleased to announce that its 2013 symposium will address the legal and political issues facing organized labor in the United States. The symposium will be held at the University of Minnesota Law School on October 25, 2013.
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