The following post comes from Wade Cribbs, a 2L at Scalia Law and a Research Assistant at CPIP.
By Wade Cribbs
Everyone in the technology industry knows that 5G is posed to revolutionize the world, but the finer points of 5G’s impact on the U.S. economy are detailed in a new report by Accenture entitled The Impact of 5G on the United States Economy. In the report, Accenture explains how 5G stands to add up to $1.5 trillion to the U.S. GDP and create or transform up to 16 million jobs from 2021 to 2025.
5G’s benefits include enabling the development of new industries, improving current industries, and accommodating the current, rapid growth of interconnected technologies. Autonomous vehicles are only achievable through 5G’s increased broadband, which can handle the large amount of data transferred to and from the sensors on vehicles on the road as they are operating. Furthermore, 5G is necessary to support the expected growth to 29.3 billion devices and 14.7 billion machine-to-machine connections by 2023. To get a better look at the specific impact 5G will have on the coming business and consumer landscape, Accenture focuses on five key business sectors: manufacturing, retail, healthcare, automotive and transportation, and utilities.
As 10,000 baby boomers retire a day, the manufacturing industry is in dire need of some way to meet its labor shortage. Due in part to a lack of interest from the younger generations, manufacturers are increasingly looking to automation. 5G will allow for an unprecedented level of control and synchronization across the warehouse floor. Examples of manufacturing improvements implementable with 5G include: AI assisted asset management utilizing video analytics and attached sensors; connected worker experiences implementing augmented reality to provide workers with a safer work experience and reduced training times; and enhanced quality monitoring through a combination of AI inspection and UHD video streaming monitoring. Accenture estimates that 5G will provide a $349.9 billion increase in sales for manufacturing of the equipment and products necessary to implement 5G in other business sectors.
In the retail sector, 5G can provide the data needed to support frictionless checkout experiences. AI used in combination with UHD video monitoring will allow for customers to be charged when putting items in their basket, eliminating the long lines that 86% of customers say have caused them to leave a store, which in turns leads to $37.7 billion in missed sales annually. Furthermore, this same AI monitoring system can be used to personalize a shopping experience through monitoring customers and alerting sales associates to a customer with a problem without the customer having to find and flag down an associate; the system can also monitor for theft, which costs the retail industry $25 million daily. Overall, Accenture estimates that the retail industry stands to see a $269.5 billion increase in sales due to 5G sales and cost savings.
Healthcare costs are expected to rise from $3.4 trillion to $6 trillion by 2027. As the need for healthcare professionals is expected to outstrip the labor supply, increases to technology and treatment efficiency are essential to address the problems presented by an aging population. The good news is that 5G is suited to address just these issues by eliminating waste, which is estimated to make up as much as 30% of spending. 5G will expand medical professionals’ ability to monitor patients, giving the option for at-home care to a wider range of patients as well as lowering the number of doctors required to monitor intensive care patients. Doctors will also be able to access previously unreachable patients for virtual consultations. No longer will rural Americans have to travel long distances to visit their doctor in the city. 5G will allow online consultants rapid access to vast amounts of data, such as MRI images, CAT scans, ultrasounds, ECGs, and stethoscope data. Accenture estimates that the healthcare industry stands to gain $192.3 billion in economic output and up to 1.7 million jobs.
As vehicles become smarter, safer, and more connected, 5G will enable automobiles to exchange data with other vehicles, the automotive infrastructure, and pedestrians. This will enhance vehicle safety, fleet management, and smart traffic management. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that the combined impact of vehicle-to-everything communication technology could reduce the severity of 80% of sober multi-vehicle crashes and 70% of crashes involving trucks. 5G video-based telematics will allow for automated vehicle fleets and fleet management capability, such as improved logistics security and goods-condition diagnostics to eliminate the up to 20% of empty cargo space in U.S. trucks. Through smart traffic managing by vehicle-to-vehicle communication and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, traffic congestion, traffic accidents, and smog due to idling can all be reduced by an expected 15 to 30%. On the whole, Accenture estimates that $217.1 billion in revenue will be generated in the automotive and transportation industry by 5G.
5G will address multiple problems facing the utility industry, including vegetation and asset management, energy supply and resiliency, and next-generation workforces. 5G will allow smart grid technology to be implemented that can track and adapt to real-time disruptions to the power grid. In combination with smart grid technology, smart power plant technology will be able to map out peak power use and wear on equipment to determine optimal times for taking a machine offline for maintenance. Safer work environments can be created for the next generation workforce using augmented and virtual reality to train and eliminate manual methods with digital tools. Accenture estimates that the utility industry stands to grow by $36.9 billion in total sales from the implementation of 5G.
Accenture concludes that 5G is the necessary step towards achieving a new normal through AI, mass machine communications, and digital cloud technology. Every aspect of American life will be affected, and an unprecedented boost will be given to the economy.
The following post comes from Wade Cribbs, a 2L at Scalia Law and a Research Assistant at CPIP. This is the second of two posts (see day one recap) summarizing our two-day 5G at the Nexus of IP, Antitrust, and Technology Leadership conference that was held online from George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School on October 7-8, 2020.
By Wade Cribbs
On October 7-8, 2020, CPIP hosted its Eighth Annual Fall Conference, 5G at the Nexus of IP, Antitrust, and Technology Leadership, online from George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School in Arlington, Virginia. The conference featured a keynote address by the Honorable Andrei Iancu, and it was co-hosted by Scalia Law’s National Security Institute (NSI).
This conference addressed fast-emerging intellectual property (IP), antitrust, and technology leadership issues in the 5G and “Internet of Things” innovation ecosystem. Coverage included standard-essential patents (SEPs) along with established and emerging markets on a regional and global basis. Speakers were drawn from the academic, industry, and policymaking communities, with an emphasis on using objective fact-based analysis to explore points of convergence among legal, economic, and geopolitical perspectives on the IP and regulatory infrastructures that underlie these critical industries.
SESSION 3: MARKETS WORK: PRIVATE ORDERING MECHANISMS IN PATENT-INTENSIVE MARKETS
The first panel of the day consisted of academics and industry experts discussing the path moving forward for intellectual property licensing and how it relates to 5G technology. CPIP Executive Director Sean O’Conner moderated the panel, directing a conversation on the mechanisms for controlling intellectual property licensing and the conflict between antitrust policy and private-ordering initiatives. Panelists included Prof. Jonathan Barnett of the University of Southern California, Dr. Bowman Heiden of the University of California, Berkeley, David Kappos of Cravath, Swain & Moore, and Luke McLeroy of Avanci.
Prof. Barnett opened the panel with a discussion of the difference between the theoretical models of IP licensing and the actual standard-essential patent market. According to the models, the burden of many standard-essential patents involved in developing a smartphone should cripple the smartphone market. Smartphones should cost thousands of dollars due only to the cost of royalties necessary for production. However, as Prof. Barnett pointed out, smartphones are more available than ever and at every price point. The empirical evidence confirms the theoretical models’ fears are inaccurate as the aggregate royalty burden is in the single digits.
Prof. Barnett went on to illustrate how this empirical evidence is shaping the DOJ Antitrust Division’s view of IP licensing. The fear has shifted from patent holdup, large patent royalties preventing innovation and competition, to a fear of patent holdout. Prof. Barnett explained that patent holdout is becoming common place in the market where a company’s most efficient method of obtaining an IP license is through litigation as opposed to negotiating a competitive licensing fee. Prof. Barnett concluded by suggesting that patent holdout occurs where property rights are not strong and clear. Where injunctive relief is awarded readily and aggressively to license owners, in the United Kingdom and Europe, patent holdout is not a prevalent issue.
Dr. Bowman framed the issue as an interplay between the public and private spheres. For the private sphere to produce, protection of its investment in the form of patents is necessary. The conflict is the public’s access to the private sector’s production is easily frustrated by a large number of standard-essential patents in an industry. Because access to the product is in the interest of the private sphere, the private sphere has solved its own problem. Industries require an agreement from a patent owner to license its patents on terms that are fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND). Without a FRAND agreement, a patent cannot be a standard-essential patent.
Dr. Bowman then examined the implementation of FRANDs in the wireless communication ecosystem. He argued that the inherent vagueness of FRANDs are a necessary feature as it allows for varied and customized solutions. Additionally, the public sphere, or other members of the private sphere, can obtain an advantage through antitrust authorities. However, innovation on the private side is always preferable to antitrust regulations.
Mr. Kappos began by emphasizing the need for balance between innovators and implementers. Current innovation-based standards create enormous consumer surplus, totaling nearly four trillion dollars in the wireless communication industry. He went on to say that innovation-based standards are far superior to previous proprietary, winner-take-all standards that produced limited consumer surplus.
Mr. Kappos further developed Prof. Barnett’s point about the need for injunctive relief to protect innovators. He highlighted that preliminary injunctive relief is available in other IP hubs, such as China and Germany, but that the United States has all but given up on awarding injunctive relief to innovators. In many cases, even when injunctive remedies are available, more is needed to compensate innovators for the lost opportunity, income, and effort. He then added that there needs to be a new recognition in license negotiations. Those who delay or try to avoid paying for licenses should be forced to pay a premium once they finally comply.
Mr. McLeroy discussed the nature of his licensing company Avanci. The company streamlines licensing of cellular standard-essential patents for internet connectivity in commercial products such as cars. It simplifies licensing by compacting all standard-essential licenses, from multiple patent owners, necessary for a product and offering them to companies in the industry at a flat rate. Avanci lowers the transaction costs by removing the time needed to identify the patents necessary and evaluate what the proper fee should be. This reduction in transaction costs allows the innovator to spend money that would have been spent on searching and negotiation back into research and development.
In response to a question, Mr. McLeroy discussed the way that 5G licensing will be administered. One potential method is based on usage. He compared a water meter intermittently transmitting data with autonomous cars constantly interacting with other vehicles and intersection equipment. The licensing fee for the water meter would be much lower than for the autonomous car due to the significantly lower scale of data transfer necessary to operate it.
All panelists agreed that strong and clear property rights in innovation are necessary for a productive global licensing market. Injunctive relief is also a necessary tool that must be made available to those developing innovative standard-essential patents.
SESSION 4: TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP IN 5G/IOT MARKETS
The second panel of the day focused on what steps should be taken to protect American leadership in the innovative technology sectors such as 5G networks. Moderator Jamil Jaffer, Founder & Executive Director of the National Security Institute (NSI), led the discussion on how the federal government can best handle the global development of 5G standards and protect American innovation from the competitive threat of China. Panelists included Megan Brown of Wiley Rain, Dr. Jonathan Putnam of Competition Dynamics, the Hon. Randall Rader of the Federal Circuit, and Andy Keiser of Navigators Global.
Dr. Putnam opened the discussion by addressing China’s patent program. Dr. Putnam described a model he created using research and development, gross national product, population, and other national indicators of inventive behavior. He noted that China subsidizes patent applications, resulting in the largest number of patents worldwide. Dr. Putnam addressed whether China has become the world leader in innovative technology. The model shows that while Chinese patent application numbers are dramatically increasing, the quality of those patents are notably lower than the rest of the world.
Dr. Putnam proposed three methods for the United States government to protect domestic interests without following the Chinese model of subsidizing innovators. First, the U.S. should unify its fractured view of antitrust on the global market. Presenting a common understanding of antitrust principles would remove a substantive fracture in U.S. foreign policy that works to China’s advantage. Second, the U.S. should take a more aggressive stance in enforcing fair trade on the world stage. There is systemic theft of foreign patent technology that must be curtailed. Third, in the pharmaceutical industry, private companies can take advantage of basic research conducted by the National Institute for Health. Applying this model to other technological sectors would be beneficial for American innovation as basic research is the foundation for most innovation.
Judge Rader agreed with Dr. Putnam that a large quantity of inferior patents is produced by China. However, Judge Rader distinguished the average patent seeker from the Chinese mega-corporations such as Huawei that produce innovation technology. Chinese mega-corporations are like American innovation leaders such as Qualcomm. Judge Rader explained that China built its platform out of subsidies in the past, but currently individual companies like Huawei devote large percentages of their gross budget to research and development that makes China a competitive innovator. China cannot be dismissed as a competitor built on unfair advantage. Instead, he urged, China must be confronted as an innovative equal that is willing to spend and supply the technology of the future.
Mr. Keiser identified China’s unique control over its market through tariffs, credit, and market manipulation. Unlike any other economy of similar size, its unique control positions China perfectly to advance its interests in innovation. Given that China is the United States’ biggest geopolitical competitor, China poses a serious threat to national security. Mr. Keiser pushed back against Judge Rader’s equal competitor view of China. He cited cases from both the United States and Poland where Huawei was found to have committed espionage and theft of competitors’ patents. Regardless of how China arrived at its current state, he said that Chinese 5G networks are not trustworthy due to consistent exploitation of foreign patents.
Ms. Brown voiced her concerns regarding the impulse to respond to China’s action by nationalizing 5G. She suggested optimizing regulation by removing the fragmented regime currently impeding innovation. The hands-off approach of Congress has facilitated longstanding U.S. leadership in innovation, and unprecedented congressional involvement would only harm American innovators. Ms. Brown framed Mr. Keiser’s point about the trustworthiness of Chinese 5G equipment and networks as a question of government intervention. Assuming these networks cannot be trusted, she asked how much the government should intervene to address the problem. In response to Dr. Putnam’s proposal of government-subsidized basic research, Ms. Brown argued that the focus should be real-world research and development with telecommunication carriers.
Ms. Brown warned that, specifically relating to 5G standard setting, the government must be careful to expend influence in its natural spheres. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a private sector, global body that leads the development of standards in 5G technology. As a global private sector organization, the federal government, in the form of the Department of Defense, has no business influencing 3GPP policy. If any government activity is warranted, she continued, it should incentivize more private American businesses to participate in and influence private organizations like 3GPP.
All the panelists agreed that the focus should be on American policy promoting domestic innovation as opposed to overreacting to the imposing threat of China. Foremost on policy makers minds must be preserving and promoting innovation from garage inventors to Qualcomm. However, Mr. Keiser stated that the scale of theft of intellectual property by China is too large to be ignored. Congressional protection in the form of laws such as the CHIPS Act, a bill to incentivize and subsidize research into semiconductors, is necessary.
CLOSING REMARKS
CPIP Executive Director Sean O’Connor and CPIP Deputy Director Joshua Kresh closed out the two-day conference by thanking all of the moderators, panelists, and attendees for making the conference such a huge success. They also thanked CPIP staff members, including Kristina Pietro, Devlin Hartline, and Mary Clare Durel, for working behind the scenes and the generous sponsors of the conference whose financial support made it possible.
The following post comes from Terence Yen, a 4E at Scalia Law and a Research Assistant at CPIP. This is the first of two posts (see day two recap) summarizing our two-day 5G at the Nexus of IP, Antitrust, and Technology Leadership conference that was held online from George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School on October 7-8, 2020.
By Terence Yen
On October 7-8, 2020, CPIP hosted its Eighth Annual Fall Conference, 5G at the Nexus of IP, Antitrust, and Technology Leadership, online from George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School in Arlington, Virginia. The conference featured a keynote address by the Honorable Andrei Iancu, and it was co-hosted by Scalia Law’s National Security Institute (NSI).
This conference addressed fast-emerging intellectual property (IP), antitrust, and technology leadership issues in the 5G and “Internet of Things” innovation ecosystem. Coverage included standard-essential patents (SEPs) along with established and emerging markets on a regional and global basis. Speakers were drawn from the academic, industry, and policymaking communities, with an emphasis on using objective fact-based analysis to explore points of convergence among legal, economic, and geopolitical perspectives on the IP and regulatory infrastructures that underlie these critical industries.
OPENING REMARKS & INTRODUCTIONS
CPIP Executive Director Sean O’Connor opened the conference by welcoming everyone to this year’s event and explaining that the conference was limited to a few hours each day to avoid “Zoom burnout.” Prof. O’Connor discussed the developing technologies of 5G and Internet of Things (IOT), which represents the systems that connect everyday objects and allow them to communicate with each other in real time. This technology increases the capability of a wide variety of industries, including automotives, home appliances, healthcare systems, and more.
CPIP Deputy Director Joshua Kresh then highlighted the various topics that would be covered during the four panel sessions and the keynote address and fireside chat by USPTO Director Andrei Iancu. Mr. Kresh also thanked the CPIP team, including Kristina Pietro, Devlin Hartline, and Mary Clare Durel, and the conference sponsors for making the conference possible.
SESSION 1: USING DATA TO INFORM POLICY: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE ON SEPS, SSOS AND FRAND ROYALTIES
The first panel focused on the use of data to inform policy, compared with the use of theoretical models for standard-essential patents (SEPs), standard setting organizations (SSOs), and fair reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) commitments. The panelists included Dr. Anne Layne-Farrar of Charles River Associates, Prof. Stephen Haber of Stanford University, and Prof. Daniel Spulber of Northwestern University, and the panel was moderated by Ted Essex of Hogan Lovells.
The panelists discussed how one of the biggest issues in this field is the setting up of royalty rates for industries such as the automotive sector, which utilize 5G and IOT. In the past, economists have warned the public about the looming problem of royalty stacking. Royalty stacking is a theory about industry collapse, wherein market power is exercised excessively and repeatedly. The theory is based on the concept that one monopoly is bad, two monopolies is worse, three monopolies is even worse, and so on. The fundamental concept is that each monopolist sets its price without taking into consideration the prices charged by other monopolists, leading to a situation where, as the number of patent owners increases, the aggregate royalty grows unsustainably and output collapses.
Despite the fears generated by royalty stacking models, however, this issue has not seemed to materialize in the real world. For example, the actual cumulative royalty yield on a smartphone is less than one-twentieth of that predicted by royalty stacking models. The reason we don’t observe this in the real world is that the theory is built on the notion of “one-time” play, meaning the people setting royalties do so independently of each other. As the data shows, this is an inaccurate portrayal of how royalty rates are set up.
The panel then went on to explain that it is important to check theories against data and real results. At the beginning of FRAND litigation, courts worried that implementers were being anticompetitively harmed by high royalty prices. As such, decisions were issued with the policy goal of protecting implementers. Over time, however, we have begun to see more balance from the courts and a higher demand for data prior to the acceptance of theoretical models.
Courts have now recognized that there is a very real problem of people using products without licenses, and that strategic or opportunistic behaviors can happen on either side of the bargaining table. As such, they are now more willing to act as gatekeepers to enforce good faith on both sides, often falling back to comparable licenses as a basic standard.
With this new emphasis on fair play from the courts, most royalty decisions are now being settled through out-of-court negotiations. Evidence shows that practically all SEP licenses are now subject to negotiation. While patent pools are often cited as the main exception, even they generally still have the option of negotiation. Evidence also suggests that SSOs develop standards through consensus decisions that are procompetitive, and most SEP licenses are mostly negotiated and enforced with contract law, making litigation rare. FRAND commitments have generally been found to be clear and effective, and it is believed that excessive regulation and antitrust intervention would impede standardization. Data shows that FRAND commitments encourage the adoption of standards, do not generate market power, and are consistent with invention and innovation.
The increase in negotiation eliminates many predicted outcomes for theories, which makes data even more important. Accurate real-life data informs public policy, and research in this field is shifting towards new techniques for gathering and analyzing big data, as well as increased use of AI and big data.
This trend helps to avoid policy decisions based on guesswork and provides evidence-based analysis helpful to courts and agencies.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS & FIRESIDE CHAT
“IP controls the destiny of virtually every industry.” Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, started his keynote address with this bold statement. Advanced digital technologies are transforming virtually every product, manufacturing process, and logistical system, and protecting the IP rights to those technologies is not only a right mentioned in the Constitution, but is the foundation of wealth creation for our nation.
As Director Iancu explained, the advancement of 5G and IOT technology will form the backbone of a new system of autonomous vehicles, smart cities, intelligent appliances, telerobotic surgeries, precision agriculture, and much more. However, our nation faces the reality that the United States is falling behind in the intellectual property arms race.
Twenty years ago, the number of patent applications being filed by Chinese citizens was practically zero. By 2018, however, that number reached almost 1.5 million per year, approximately three times the number of American applications. Chinese applications have increased at an average rate of 26% each year, as opposed to a 2-3% annual increase for the U.S. While some may call into question the quality of these Chinese patent applications, Director Iancu noted that the sheer magnitude indicates that China is at minimum attending diligently to its intellectual property portfolios in areas critical to the next technological revolution. This remarkable trend can in part be attributed to China’s extensive system of government incentives for IP, which include tax incentives, subsidies for patents, and other monetary and nonmonetary rewards. As foreign nations like China continue to outperform the U.S. in amassing a rich depth of technological patents, U.S. companies may end up paying billions in royalties as those patents become increasingly vital to the upcoming technological revolution.
Director Iancu went on the explain that the U.S. must take steps to ensure that American technology is able to keep up with foreign technological development. To do so, we must have a robust system of predictable patent rights to maintain the incentives to innovate. If we are forced to use only technologies that are in the public domain, standards will inevitably be stunted.
Recognizing that private sector inventions are the primary source of SEPs, Director Iancu explained the need for a market-driven licensing system and the role of the government in the transition to 5G. He emphasized that it is the Patent Office’s goal to maintain balance between licensors and licensees, and he ended his presentation with the promise that the “USPTO will be steadfast in ensuring that we have a fair and balanced licensing system driven by the needs of the industry.”
Director Iancu then went on to have a fireside chat with CPIP Executive Director Sean O’Connor, taking questions from the audience at the end.
SESSION 2: IP MEETS ANTITRUST AROUND THE GLOBE: POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE LEGAL TREATMENT OF SEPS AND FRAND
The final session of the day included panelists Maureen Ohlhausen of Baker Botts, Dr. Urška Petrovčič of the Hudson Institute, Prof. Daniel Sokol of the University of Florida, and Prof. John Yun of Scalia Law. The panel was moderated by Prof. Henry Butler, Dean of Scalia Law and Executive Director of the law school’s Law & Economics Center.
The panelists discussed how innovation is crucial to the U.S. economy and how IP has been one of the primary drivers of the economy for the last 60 years. Throughout that time, IP and antitrust law have consistently been found to be complementary fields, as both are aimed at encouraging innovation, industry, and competition.
FRAND issues arise in the context of standards setting, as SDOs commonly adopt patent policies to promote access after a standard is adopted. In tech areas especially, hundreds of patents are often necessary to create a working product. This requires standards for fair and reasonable licensing policies, though there is some dispute as to whether the breach of FRAND commitments is an antitrust concern. Blanket licensing policies can offer higher efficiencies related to reduced transaction costs and patent peace, but the concern is that it may be a form of tying arrangement. However, it should be noted that U.S. antitrust agencies have long acknowledged that blanket licensing does not always raise antitrust concerns.
One issue of contention is the topic of injunctions. The confusions raised on the subject have drawn the attentions of the DOJ and FTC, most recently with their post-Madison approach. The DOJ holds that patent holdup is not an antitrust problem and that SSOs should better protect against holdout to ensure maximum incentives to innovate. It believes that patent owner injunction rights should be protected, not persecuted, and that a unilateral and unconditional refusal to license a valid patent should be per se legal. The FTC agrees with some of that approach, with the opinion that breach of FRAND alone is not an antitrust problem, but both hold-out and hold-up can raise serious concerns.
As a general trend, U.S. courts have begun to move away from the idea that IP owners are very constrained by antitrust and must license. However, the advent of 5G is sure to raise a whole new slew of issues, and the 5G battle will be a very different conflict from what we have seen before. Up until now, many of the most politically connected companies around the world have not played a significant role in this debate. With 5G being the future of IOT, however, many more elements of the supply chain will be involved on this issue, and many previously uninvolved players will want to shake up the case law in their favor.
Thus far, European courts have also moved towards the trend of acknowledging that FRAND compliance may make injunctions more difficult, but there are no rules specifically barring injunctions, so the option remains on the table. European courts have generally put forth the opinion that they want to protect the interests of both implementers and SEP owners, and they are currently less willing to adopt conclusions based on categorical rules or abstract theories, preferring evidence-based analysis instead.
At the center of this multisided issue is SSOs. SSOs balance the interests of two competing groups with different incentives: the innovators and the implementers. By design, SSOs are avoiding cracking down on the issue with bold decisions so as not to disrupt the balance between two sides.
The panelists agreed that, as of right now, nothing is set in stone. Antitrust, especially in combination with IP and contract law, remains in a state of flux. This has led to a lot of uncertainty in investments, which may impact our ability to innovate. Amongst its concluding thoughts on the issue, the panel noted that there are titanic conflicts yet to come, and as far as this field is concerned, “winter is coming.”
By Wade Cribbs
By Wade Cribbs