Abstract

As for any kind of good, the parties to a licence agreement are normally free to determine the royalty payable by the licensee and its mode of payment. By the way, whether within the European antitrust scenario the parties can agree to extend royalty obligations even beyond the period of validity of the licensed intellectual property rights, in the Us post-patent expiration royalties are unlawful "per se" since "Brulotte". The recent "Kimble" decision mantains the Supreme Court's precedent highligthing the troublesome interface between antitrust and patent protection.