Antitrust Chief Sees Small DOJ Role in 5G Talks; PTO Grappling With Emerging Tech Patents
DOJ Antitrust Division head Makan Delrahim staked a claim to a lower-scale role in discussions within President Donald Trump's administration on how to ensure U.S. dominance in 5G deployments and developments, during a Wednesday Federalist Society event. Trump publicly opposed 5G nationalization amid longstanding concerns on Capitol Hill and elsewhere about the administration's direction on the issue last month (see 1904120065).
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Delrahim and Patent and Trademark Office Director Andrei Iancu otherwise made little mention of telecom-specific issues, including DOJ's ongoing evaluation of whether it should block T-Mobile’s proposed buy of Sprint (see 1904300183). Both officials instead focused on how their agencies encourage innovation, and on ongoing struggles with artificial intelligence issues.
DOJ has “been involved” in National Economic Council and National Security Council-led 5G talks “to the extent it relates to us” and “we obviously work closely” with the FCC on related legal matters, Delrahim said. The department also works with the PTO and the National Institute of Standards and Technology on other 5G-related issues.
The Trump administration is “acutely aware” of the need to maintain U.S. leadership on 5G and other tech innovation matters against competition from China and other countries, said Commerce Department General Counsel Peter Davidson. “If we don't provide leadership” on tech issues, “someone else will, and we won't end up being in a very good place.”
Iancu earlier acknowledged that China's development of patents “has gone through the roof” in recent years and there's “no guarantee” the U.S.' long history of technological leadership will continue even “20 years from now” without a bigger push to get a “higher percentage of our people” involved in innovation. That requires policies “geared toward more and more innovation,” he said.
The Senate Judiciary Committee set a May 14 hearing on the national security, IP and competition implications of 5G. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in 226 Dirksen, Senate Judiciary said.
PTO has “a lot to do” to make its existing rules and procedures work for evaluating applications involving emerging technologies, though Iancu said the “general concepts are there” and should work if “applied correctly.” He said AI and machine learning technologies pose particular challenges to existing IP protections rules, but said PTO is “working on those issues right now.” The office is “in the midst of struggling” with how to determine the patent “eligibility of those technologies,” though recent guidance should help “bring clarity,” Iancu said. He cited questions about assigning patent ownership for developments created by AI and machine learning independently of its original inventor.