Professor Thomas Cotter Testifies Before U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet

Professor Thomas Cotter, Taft Stettinius & Hollister Professor of Law, was one of four witnesses invited to testify at a December 18, 2024 hearing of the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet. The hearing, titled 'IP and Strategic Competition with China: Part IV - Patents, Standards, and Lawfare', centered on "standard-essential patents" (SEPs) — that is, patented technologies that firms implement to ensure that devices such as smartphones are interoperable, and which patent owners typically commit to license on undefined "fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory" (FRAND) terms.
 

Cotter's testimony provided a comparative overview of litigation involving FRAND-committed SEPs in the four principal jurisdictions that hear these cases--the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and China--and highlighted some of the issues that these courts confront, including what bodies of law to apply, the availability of injunctive relief and anti-suit injunctions, and whether courts may award global royalties. Other witnesses included Colorado School of Mines Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer Walter Copan, u-blox America Head of IP Strategy, Litigation & Licensing Kent Baker, and George Mason University Fellow Mark Cohen.