Re: antitrust and copyright

On Thu, Apr 06, 2000, Tim Brennan <brennan[_at_]umbc.edu> wrote:
>
> Following Microsoft's loss in the courtroom and the debate over
> what to do about it, I am curious. Does anyone know of a prior
> case where the remedy for an antitrust violation included giving
> up legal rights normally protected by copyright (e.g., not to
> publish source code)?

I can't answer for copyright. I do know that a standard remedy for an antitrust violation in a patent case was (and is) voiding the patent, not merely giving up rights covered by the patent.

One of the main reasons behind giving the Federal Circuit exclusive control of patent appeals was the wide variation in the circuits on this point. While, obviously, only a small number of patents ever get litigated, in the 60's and 70's some circuits had a 100% rate of overturning patents where antitrust was an issue.

The MS court did cite to some case law in its opinion: Eastman Kodak (504 US 451,479); Square D v. Niagra (476 US 409, 421); Data General v. Grumman (36 F3d 1147, 1186 -- 1st Circ) and Image Technical v Eastman Kodak (125 F3d 1195,1219 -- 9th Circ) in its discussion of this point.

Harold Federow
<haroldf[_at_]bsquare.com> Received on Fri Apr 07 2000 - 16:27:26 GMT