Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Comments on FTC’s PAE study due December 2, (Oct 3, 2013)

The FTC’s request for public comments on a planned study of companies in the business of buying and asserting patents, known as Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs), was published in today’s Federal Register. Interested parties now have until December 2, 2013, to submit comments on the proposal. Of course, it is unclear at this point how the current government shutdown might impact the submission deadline.

As previously announced, the agency, pursuant to its FTC Act section 6(b) authority, plans to gather information from approximately 25 companies through compulsory process orders. The FTC intends to use this information to examine how PAEs—sometimes called “patent trolls”—do business and develop a better understanding of how they impact innovation and competition. According to the notice, nonpublic information obtained from the PAEs, such as licensing agreements, patent acquisition information, and cost and revenue data, should provide the agency with a more complete picture of PAE activity than what is currently available.

Interested parties may file a comment online. In addition, comments, labeled “PAE Reports: Paperwork Comment; Project No. P131203,” can be sent to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex J), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580.

News: Antitrust FederalTradeCommissionNews