Is Sharing a Virtue? Compulsory Licensing and Essential Facilities After Trinko
Monday, April 5, 2004
7:30 a.m.—9:00 a.m.
Pacific Room
Bankers Club of San Francisco
Bank of America World Headquarters Building
555 California Street, 52nd Floor
San Francisco, California

Under what circumstances is an owner of property – tangible or intellectual – obliged to share with potential competitors? The question goes to the heart of the tension between laws intended to spur the creation of productive property and those intended to maximize the efficient use of existing property. The Supreme Court’s January 2004 decision in Verizon v. Trinko provided the clearest answer to date, but did not eliminate all uncertainty. Meanwhile, the European Court of Justice is now weighing the issue of compulsory licensing in IMS Health, yet another case that could fundamentally change the law.