The Centre for Innovation, Intellectual Property and Competition organized a three-day certificate course on IP Licensing and Competition Law from 22nd-24th August 2018 followed by a two-day workshop on Standard Essential Patents: Patents and Antitrust Issues in the High-Tech World from 25th-26th August 2018 at Vivanta by Taj Ambassador. The sessions on the first three days of the certificate course were conducted by Pro. Jay Kesan, Professor, University of Illinois and Dr. Kirti Gupta, Senior Director, Economic Strategy at Qualcomm Inc. Two special sessions were conducted by Dr Payal Malik, Economic Advisor for the Competition Commission of India and Mr Pravin Anand, Managing Partner at Anand & Anand respectively on the final day of the workshop.
The three-day certificate course was designed for the students in the penultimate and final year of the LL.B. course. Fifty-five law students from all over the country were methodically selected from more than two hundred applicants for the session. The course was structured with an aim to first, familiarize the students with the basics of the IP, Competition law, the interface of IP and Competition Law and also, the economic aspect of the same and then venture into the complex contemporary issues of technology licensing and the essential economic factors for assessing the relevant markets.
The two-day workshop was specially designed for the early professional, regulators, public servants and academics working in the area of IP and Competition law. The flow of the workshop was structured in an engaging pattern discussing the antitrust concerns of the dynamic markets revolving around the patent rights. Dr Kirti Gupta and Prof Jay Kesan discussed the practical reality of licensing on FRAND terms backed by case studies from various jurisdictions. Dr Payal Malik added the Indian perspective to the discussion by elaborating upon the emerging approaches of the CCI towards the digital economy. Further, Mr Pravin Anand gave the viewpoint of the main stakeholders in the matters, i.e. the companies involved in transactions involving SEPs and the veracities faced by them. He also discussed in detail the Phillips judgment- India’s first trial on SEP matters.
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