Geoffrey Manne Quoted on FTC v. Qualcomm in Apple Insider Article
ICLE President & Founder Geoffrey Manne gave his take on the comparison between FTC v. Qualcomm and Aspen Skiing in a recent Apple Insider Article:
University of Southern California law professor Jonathan Barnett agrees with Wilson’s view that the decision could be overturned during an appeal. Barnett proposed the Aspen Skiing ruling was supposed to be “very narrow,” and was deemed to be “at or near the outer boundary” of antitrust liability when referred to in a 2004 Verizon lawsuit at the high court.
Geoffrey Manne, International Center for Law and Economics director, agreed in that there was an issue in comparing the Qualcomm situation with Aspen Skiing. The change to device-level licensing “hardly originated with Qualcomm,” suggests Manne, but it made sense due to being potentially more lucrative.
While the arguments based on Aspen Skiing’s interpretation may have some value, other legal experts believe Koh’s factual findings won’t be ignored by appeals courts unless there is a very “clear error” on her part. Specifically, contradictions in testimony by some Qualcomm executives via their own notes and communications, one Qualcomm lawyer “pretended not to recall” details of a 2012 meeting until FTC lawyers played a recording, and polished “fast and practiced narratives” in questioning of Qualcomm executives by the company’s own lawyers.