Virtual Event | The IEEE Business Review Letter: Where Do We Stand?

Please be advised: This event will premiere on this page at 12:00 p.m. EDT, Monday, June 7. Register for the event "here":https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-event-the-ieee-business-review-let… or via the register button.

Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Urška Petrovčič will host expert panelists Walter G. Copan, Ph.D., Richard S. Taffet, Elisabeth Opie, and Georgios Effraimidis for a discussion on recent developments surrounding the U.S. Department of Justice business review letter (BRL) issued to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association (IEEE) and its implications for standard-development organizations and antitrust practices.

In 2015, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice issued a BRL to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association (IEEE)—one of the world’s largest standard-development organizations (SDOs)—clarifying that it had no intention of bringing an antitrust action against the SDO for revising its patent policy. In 2020, the Antitrust Division updated that BRL, reasoning that the 2015 letter had been mischaracterized both domestically and internationally and that further clarification was needed; but in April 2021, the Antitrust Division moved the 2020 update to the advocacy section of the Antitrust Division’s website—raising questions among industry participants and policymakers about the antitrust implications. What is the significance of this for antitrust practices going forward? Please join Hudson Institute for this important discussion.