Antitrust Division Speech On Standard Setting
Client Alert | 1 min read | 03.30.07
On March 29, 2007, Hill B. Wellford, Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of DOJ’s Antitrust Division, gave a speech called “Antitrust Issues in Standard Setting” before the China Electronics Standardization Institute in Beijing, China. Mr. Wellford discussed DOJ’s policy in applying antitrust law to “ex ante” patent policies within standards development organizations (“SDOs”). He advocated several general principles, such as the emphasis on efficiency when analyzing SDO conduct, and that market competition among SDOs could be an effective way to evaluate SDO policies. Mr. Wellford also discussed the recent business reviews submitted by the VMEbus International Trade Association (“VITA”) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (“IEEE”), which he described as “the cutting edge of the debate over ex ante patent policies.”
For more information, please visit: http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/speeches/222236.htm
Insights
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.21.25
On November 7, 2025, in Thornton v. National Academy of Sciences, No. 25-cv-2155, 2025 WL 3123732 (D.D.C. Nov. 7, 2025), the District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation complaint on the basis that the plaintiff’s allegations that he was fired after blowing the whistle on purported illegally discriminatory use of federal funding was not sufficient to support his FCA claim. This case appears to be one of the first filed, and subsequently dismissed, following Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s announcement of the creation of the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative on May 19, 2025, which “strongly encourages” private individuals to file lawsuits under the FCA relating to purportedly discriminatory and illegal use of federal funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in violation of Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity (Jan. 21, 2025). In this case, the court dismissed the FCA retaliation claim and rejected the argument that an organization could violate the FCA merely by “engaging in discriminatory conduct while conducting a federally funded study.” The analysis in Thornton could be a sign of how forthcoming arguments of retaliation based on reporting allegedly fraudulent DEI activity will be analyzed in the future.
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.19.25
