US-FTC Schedules Hearings on IP

On November 6, 2008, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced a series of hearings on "Evolving Intellectual Property Marketplace."  The hearings will be held beginning on December 5, 2008, in Washington, DC. The FTC will examine changes in IP law, patent-related business models, and new learning about the operation of the IP marketplace since the issuance in October 2003 of the Commission report To Promote Innovation: The Proper Balance of Competition and Patent Law and Policy. An agenda for the hearing is available here. 

Additional information about the December 5 and subsequent hearings will be available on the website for the hearings, which can be accessed from http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/workshops.shtm.