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Showing results for:  “Michael Vita”

My Hip Saga and How the Affordable Care Act Squandered Our Best Opportunity to Lower Health Care Costs

After two years of nagging and increasingly worse hip and leg pain, I learned last August (at age forty) that I have a congenital hip deformity and need to have both hips replaced.  In planning for this surgery, I’ve witnessed first-hand a problem that is driving American health care costs through the roof and is exacerbated by ... My Hip Saga and How the Affordable Care Act Squandered Our Best Opportunity to Lower Health Care Costs

Some Thoughts on the Spring Meeting: Bummed About RPM, Happy About the FTC’s Future

I’ve spent the last few days in DC at the ABA Antitrust Section’s Spring Meeting. The Spring Meeting is the extravaganza of the year for antitrust lawyers, bringing together leading antitrust practitioners, enforcers, and academics for in-depth discussions about developments in the law. It’s really a terrific event. I was honored this year to have ... Some Thoughts on the Spring Meeting: Bummed About RPM, Happy About the FTC’s Future

Symposium

Innovation for the 21st Century Symposium

The topic of TOTM’s first blog symposium is Michael Carrier’s forthcoming book: Innovation for the 21st Century: Harnessing the Power of Intellectual Property and Antitrust Law (from Oxford University Press). Here is a description of the book’s contents from Professor Carrier: Innovation for the 21st Century offers ten proposals, from pharmaceuticals to peer-to-peer software, that will help ... Innovation for the 21st Century Symposium

The SHIELD Act: When Bad Economic Studies Make Bad Laws

Earlier this month, Representatives Peter DeFazio and Jason Chaffetz picked up the gauntlet from President Obama’s comments on February 14 at a Google-sponsored Internet Q&A on Google+ that “our efforts at patent reform only went about halfway to where we need to go” and that he would like “to see if we can build some ... The SHIELD Act: When Bad Economic Studies Make Bad Laws

Federalist Society and AALS talks this week

I’ll be headed to New Orleans tomorrow to participate in the Federalist Society Faculty Conference and the AALS Annual Meeting. For those attending and interested, I’ll be speaking at the Fed Soc on privacy and antitrust, and at AALS on Google and antitrust.  Details below.  I hope to see you there! Federalist Society: Seven-Minute Presentations ... Federalist Society and AALS talks this week

Time for Congress to Cancel the FTC’s Section 5 Antitrust Blank Check

A debate is brewing in Congress over whether to allow the Federal Trade Commission to sidestep decades of antitrust case law and economic theory to define, on its own, when competition becomes “unfair.” Unless Congress cancels the FTC’s blank check, uncertainty about the breadth of the agency’s power will chill innovation, especially in the tech ... Time for Congress to Cancel the FTC’s Section 5 Antitrust Blank Check

“Google and Antitrust” roundtable at AALS

I will be participating in a wide-ranging discussion of Google and antitrust issues at the upcoming AALS meeting in New Orleans in January. The Antitrust and Economic Regulation Section of the AALS is hosting the roundtable, organized by Mike Carrier. Mike and I will be joined by Marina Lao, Frank Pasquale, Pam Samuelson, and Mark ... “Google and Antitrust” roundtable at AALS

Podcast Panel: Software Patents – Boon or Bane for Technological Innovation?

http://www.fed-soc.org/publications/detail/boon-or-bane-for-technological-innovation-software-patents-podcast Although pure software patents are only a couple decades old, they have become the focus of a heated innovation policy debate. On the one hand, new technological innovation once imagined only as science fiction is now a commonplace feature of our lives — tablet computers, smart phones, wireless telecommunication, cloud computing, and streaming television, ... Podcast Panel: Software Patents – Boon or Bane for Technological Innovation?

Forget remedies – FairSearch doesn’t even have a valid statement of harm in its Google antitrust criticism

After more than a year of complaining about Google and being met with responses from me (see also here, here, here, here, and here, among others) and many others that these complaints have yet to offer up a rigorous theory of antitrust injury — let alone any evidence — FairSearch yesterday offered up its preferred ... Forget remedies – FairSearch doesn’t even have a valid statement of harm in its Google antitrust criticism

How Many Patents Make a “Patent War”?

I have a guest blog posting up on Intellectual Ventures’ blog on why a patent war — or “patent thicket” in scholarly parlance — cannot be defined solely in terms of the number of patents involved in the legal and commercial conflict.   Check it out at: http://www.intellectualventures.com/index.php/insights/archives/how-many-patents-make-a-patent-war As an aside, this issue is important because ... How Many Patents Make a “Patent War”?

Who’s Flying The Plane?

It’s an appropriate question, both figuratively and literally. Today’s news headlines are now warning of a looming pilot shortage. A combination of new qualification standards for new pilots and a large percentage of pilots reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65 is creating the prospect of having too few pilots for the US airline industry. ... Who’s Flying The Plane?

Teleforum on Software Patents on Tuesday, Nov. 6, at 2pm

A nice way to take a break from Election Day stress about this fingernail-biting-close election is to listen to some panelists talk about something that is truly important — software patents! 🙂 It a great panel, notwithstanding my participation, and it promises to be a lot of fun and informative.  So, call in for the ... Teleforum on Software Patents on Tuesday, Nov. 6, at 2pm