Qualcomm Wants You to Think the FTC’s Antitrust Case is About Patents; It’s Not
Key Lessons from the 14 Amicus Briefs Filed in Support of the FTC in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals In a key court case poised to make or break the innovation cycle in America, Qualcomm and its allies are recycling the same tired arguments in their effort to overturn the district court ruling in the Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust case against the company’s anticompetitive patent licensing behavior. While Qualcomm justifies anticompetitive conduct on patent rights, as the 14 amicus [...]
2020 Vision: Will Congress Have Foresight on Healthcare Privacy?
As my colleague observed in a recent piece, while 2019 did not quite pan out as the “year of privacy” that some predicted, lawmakers did achieve significant progress last year. In fact, Chairman Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) of the Senate Commerce Committee each recently unveiled privacy bills that were more striking in their similarity and the shrinking list of issues that separate the two sides more than anything else. As a result of these bills, [...]
What you need to know about App Store Optimization and Ranking
Have you ever wondered how app stores determine which apps to show you when you type something into the search bar of the app store on your phone? If so, you’re not alone – the European Commission (EC) has also been asking this question. The EU’s Platform-to-Business (P2B) regulation aims at increasing transparency for business users of online intermediation services (i.e., platforms). Amongst other things, the P2B regulation (Article 5) requires platforms to list in their terms and conditions [...]
How German Patent Reform Could Benefit Innovative Small and Medium Enterprises
As the leading voice for small business innovators, ACT | The App Association works hard to bring the small business voice to legal and policy discussions about standard-essential patents (SEPs). Our goal is to create an environment that allows small businesses to contribute to and utilize standardized technologies. A balanced approach to patents is one that appreciates the voluntary fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (known as “FRAND”) commitment made by patent owners. In our members’ experiences, SEP licensing abuse hurts their [...]
Privacy is on Everyone’s Mind, But Do You Know What It Literally Means?
In January, the federal tea leaves foretold that 2019 would focus on consumer privacy legislation and regulatory action. Fast forward to early December, and there is but a partial fulfillment of this prophecy. There are media series, protests, and polls but as far as the law goes, only the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) made a national splash. However, as we race to the end of 2019, rumored drafts of federal legislation are finally seeing some daylight. As I write [...]
This Actually Was Kind of the Year of Privacy, and Other Thoughts
After nearly a year of little movement, Congress made major moves towards public drafts of bills to create a federal law on consumer data and privacy protection. This week ACT | The App Association is publishing a two part series on these legislative drafts and what the text really means for consumers. At the beginning of 2019, many of us were busy mitigating our own great expectations that comprehensive privacy reform might see measurable progress this year. Conflicted, we expressed [...]