Law, Policy & Economics of Technical Standards eJournal
Editor: Jorge L. Contreras
American University Washington College of Law

This eJournal distributes working and accepted paper abstracts addressing the legal, policy and economic implications of technical standardization. Standards for product interoperability, safety and quality are developed by industry consortia, trade associations and governmental agencies. High-tech industries such as telecommunications, computing, networking and semiconductors have long been characterized by standardized products, as have traditional industries such as construction, aviation and electrical power. Technical standardization raises a host of legal, policy and economic issues. Legal issues encompass fields including intellectual property, antitrust, administrative law and contract law. Recent legal issues that have been prominent in the field include the acquisition and enforcement of patent rights in standardized technologies, the application of antitrust doctrines to collaborative standards-setting organizations, assertion of copyright in documented standards and incorporation of standards into statutory materials, and the contractual and equitable relationships among participants in standard-setting organizations. Economic issues include the impact of standardization on competition, network externalities and product markets, the effect of patenting on standardization processes and standardized products, the analysis of royalties and other economic costs of standardized products, the comparative costs and benefits of different standards systems, and the critical role of standards for productivity-enhancing innovation. Policy considerations include the impact of standardization on developing economies, the use of standardization as a tool of trade policy, the use of compulsory standards or open standards requirements in government procurement, the political economies of standardization bodies, the scope and impact of information security standards, and the use of standards as non-tariff barriers and as industrial policy tools. Papers may come from a wide variety of disciplines and scholarly approaches, including doctrinal legal scholarship, empirical legal studies, innovation theory, development studies, econometrics, microeconomic theory, organizational theory, political science, and public choice theory. This eJournal is international and interdisciplinary and welcomes submissions from around the globe.

This eJournal is sponsored by American University Washington College of Law (wcl.american.edu), which was founded in 1896 to promote the values of equality, diversity, and intellectual rigor in legal education. The law school's nationally and internationally recognized programs provide its 1700 JD, LL.M., and SJD students with the critical skills and values necessary to have an immediate impact around the world. The school's Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property (PIJIP) (wcl.american.edu/pijip) is internationally recognized as a leader in research, teaching and advocacy in all areas of intellectual property and information technology law.

Click here to Browse our Electronic Library to view our archives of abstracts and associated full text papers published in this journal.

Sample Issue

Law, Policy & Economics of Technical Standards eJournal Advisory Board
Click on the individual's name below to view the editor or advisory board member's author home page.

Editor: Jorge L. Contreras
American University Washington College of Law

Michael A. Carrier

Laura DeNardis

Dieter Ernst

Damien Geradin

Richard J. Gilbert

Jay P. Kesan

Mark A. Lemley

Keith E. Maskus

Timothy S. Simcoe

Andrew S. Updegrove