Antitrust and You, Part 2: Epic v. Apple in an Antitrust Law Context
For those of us following the Epic v. Apple case, it was sometimes difficult to follow or immediately grasp the relevance of the meandering lines of questioning that covered a wide range of themes. Intermingled with all of the evidence that found its way into the record via testimony and discovery were references to key antitrust law concepts and case history. As we await a ruling, Judge Yvonne Rodriguez Rogers’s job is to consider the facts in this case against [...]
Industrial Perspectives on Licensing for the Internet of Things
Online Webinar – Register here 14 June 2021 15h00 CET – 16h30 CET Standard-essential patents (SEPs) are a key component of the modern economy. With billions of connected devices in the internet of things (IoT), new avenues of growth open up every day for innovative firms in a vast array of sectors. However, abusive SEP licensing practices are a roadblock to the uptake of these technologies and the economic potential they offer. A SEP licensing framework must align with Europe’s [...]
404 Error: How Legislation Intended to Grow the App Economy Could End Up Hurting It
Over the last several years, regulators, Congress, and most recently state legislatures, have been taking a hard look at “big tech” companies, the relationship they have with small businesses, like our members, and have raised concerns about competition in the digital market. We also have concerns. Real-life concerns that transcend political donations or complicated, misleading language found in legislation in statehouses across the United States. When we look at legislation like Rhode Island’s HB6055, we see through what seems to [...]
Evaluating Antitrust Proposals for Software Platforms and Apps
The state of competition in app stores is a hot topic in Congress and state legislatures as they evaluate proposals to remedy issues arising from a perceived lack of competition in app store markets. At the federal level, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights recently held a hearing on “Antitrust Applied: Examining Competition in App Stores.” (Check out our blog that includes our statement for the record here.) Meanwhile, at the state level, we’ve [...]
Event Recap: Questions Asked to the Court – A Fireside Chat on Standard-Essential Patents
On 5 May 2021, ACT | the App Association hosted a fireside chat on the licensing of standard-essential patents (SEPs) and the questions the Düsseldorf court recently referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the matter. The licensing of the patented technologies that underpin connectivity standards like Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, and 5G is critical to using the standards themselves. For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) the ability to either purchase fully licensed modules or license [...]
ACT | The App Association’s Ongoing Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Join our executive director, Chelsea Thomas, as she rolls out ACT | The App Association’s Amplify Diverse Talent Working Group in the video below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBUT49f3Y9c “We recognize the gap in representation and the inequities in our industry, and we want to help change that. Like our Amplify blog series, our Amplify Diverse Talent Group is working for empowerment in the app economy.”