On Friday, Chris Sagers, the James A. Thomas Professor of Law, provided a closed-door briefing for House Judiciary staffers and others on Capitol Hill, on the problem of “standard-essential patents.” A bit technical perhaps, but the problem is no academic one: in proceedings currently pending in the United States and four other nations, the massive cellular technology maker Qualcomm has already been fined well over two billion dollars for SEP abuses, and the issue has been among the most closely watched hi-tech policy problems of the past decade.

The forum was organized by the trade association of app developers, ACT The App Association, and held in the Rayburn House Office Building.