4 February 2013Patents

Jon Leibowitz to leave FTC

Federal Trade Commission (FTC) chairman Jon Leibowitz has announced he will be stepping down on February 15, 2013, ending a four-year tenure and more than eight years at the Commission.

Leibowitz announced his departure on Friday. His replacement has not yet been confirmed but Democratic commissioners Julie Brill and Edith Ramirez, anti-trust expert Howard Shelanski and Philip Weiser, a former anti-trust official at the US Justice Department, have been named as possible successors.

During Leibowitz’s tenure, the FTC carried out anti-trust investigations into both Google and Intel and continued to pursue legal action against pharmaceutical companies alleged to have paid generic rivals to delay the introduction of lower cost pharmaceuticals in “pay for delay” deals.

In January this year, the found Google and subsidiary Motorola Mobility guilty of blocking access to patents essential for the development of computer, mobile and gaming technology, and ordered Google to agree to a settlement limiting when it can block patent access. A week later, Google dropped two major patent infringement claims against Microsoft.

In 2010, it found Intel had stifled competition, and ordered the company to negotiate IP agreements with rivals to allow them to pursue mergers and joint ventures without being sued by Intel for patent infringement.

In 2009, the agency sued Watson Pharmaceuticals for allegedly engaging in a “pay for delay” deal over the testosterone replacement drug AndroGel. The case will be argued before the US Supreme Court on March 25 this year.

As chair, Leibowitz also worked on anti-fraud investigations and revisions to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) limiting what personal information can be taken from website users aged 13 and under.

In a statement announcing his resignation, Leibowitz said: “I have been honored to head this extraordinary, bipartisan Commission and to work alongside the best staff in federal government.”

“Our small but mighty agency has safeguarded the privacy of Americans and stopped predatory financial practices by companies taking advantage of cash-strapped consumers.  Our antitrust enforcement has helped contain health care and drug costs, and helped reduce prices and increase innovation for smartphones, computer chips and other high-tech products,” he added.

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