Antitrust Enforcement and Standard Setting: The Vita and IEEE Letters and the “IP2” Report

Gerald Masoudi, Deputy Assistant Attorney General , U.S. Department of Justice

9/05/2008
(Original Publish Date: 5/10/2007)

In October 2006, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a business review letter to the VMEbus International Trade Association (VITA), a standards development organization (SDO) that develops standards for certain computer bus architecture. On April 17, 2007, DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a joint report known as the "IP2" Report, covering six topics at the intersection of intellectual property law and antitrust, one of which is standard setting. And on April 30, 2007, DOJ issued a business review letter to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE), which develops a wide range of technology standards.