This Handbook is particularly important because of the increasingly critical role standards play in our economy. Within the broad scope of this Handbook are quality standards, informational standards, uniformity standards, interoperability standards and non-products standards such as professional conduct standards. These standards promote innovation, productive efficiency, and market structure. The Handbook describes how the antitrust laws balance these procompetitive effects against the potential mususe of standards, and the sandard-setting process, to create barriers to entry, retard innovation, raise rivals' cists, facilitate collusion, and protect market position. The Handbook also recognizes the increasing role played by governments - federal, state and interantional - in the promulgation of standards, and how that impacts the application of the antitrust laws. Finally, the Handbook addresses the remedies available to redress the effects of standards-related activity found to be unlawful.

This Chapter, forthcoming in the ABA Handbook on the Antitrust Aspects of Standards Setting (2010) provides an analytical overview of the antitrust issues involving intellectual property and standard setting including, but not limited to, patent holdup, royalty stacking, refusals to license, and patent pools.

Significant segments of American business and professions are represented by trade and professional associations. Associations are setting product standards, certifying the expertise of professionals, and actively opposing or promoting new legislative and regulatory initiatives. But association activities raise potential antitrust risks and their exposure to antitrust challenge has increased proportionately. This Handbook helps association counsel and executives help to understand the antitrust issues associated with association activities and minimize their risk.

Technical standards are ubiquitous in the modern networked economy. They allow products made and sold by different vendors to interoperate with little to no consumer effort and enable new market entrants to innovate on top of established technology platforms. This groundbreaking volume, edited by Jorge L. Contreras, assesses and analyzes the legal aspects of technical standards and standardization. Bringing together more than thirty leading international scholars, advocates, and policymakers, it focuses on two of the most contentious and critical areas pertaining to standards today in key jurisdictions around the world: antitrust/competition law and patent law. (A subsequent volume will focus on international trade, copyright, and administrative law.) This comprehensive, detailed examination sheds new light on the standards that shape the global technology marketplace and will serve as an indispensable tool for scholars, practitioners, judges, and policymakers everywhere.