The FTC, which enforces the US's antitrust and competition laws as well as consumer protection laws, will hold the first in a series of public hearings on intellectual property and patent policy in December.
It said that it was essential to debate the issues because the legal landscape has changed since it last reported on patent law and other IP laws in 2003.
"The courts and patentees are exploring the full implications of Supreme Court and Federal Circuit decisions on injunctive relief, patentability, and licensing issues," said an FTC statement. "Congress has considered sweeping legislative patent reform, and new debates on the appropriate methods for calculating infringement damages have engaged the patent community."
"New business models for buying, selling and licensing patents have emerged and evolved since 2003," it said. "In addition, there is new learning regarding the operation of the patent system and its contribution to innovation and competition."
In 2002 and 2003 the FTC held a series of hearings and panel discussions which resulted in the publication of a 200-page report which has determined its IP policy and rulings since then. It said that it was time for that material to be reviewed because so much had changed.
"The cumulative impact of these changes and proposed changes are poorly understood," it said. "They contain the potential to significantly influence a patent’s economic value and the operation of the IP marketplace. The Commission’s hearings will consider the effect of these changes on innovation, competition, and consumer welfare."
The first event will have three topics of discussion. One panel will talk about new kinds of business models using patents and the existing industry's response to them.
A second panel will discuss changes to remedies law and what impact changing penalties have both on industry's ability to innovate and on the consumers who will eventually pay for and use products.
A third panel will discuss the changes in patent law that have come about through court rulings and the impact on the value of patents and patent licences. It will examine the effect of Supreme Court rulings on what counts as obvious in a patent application, the exhaustion of patents and changes to the scope and enforcement of patents.
The Supreme Court ruled just last month on which business methods can and which cannot be patented. It rejected a lower court's test for patentability and said that only a test developed by the Supreme Court could be used.
