The following statement is in response to President Obama naming Edith Ramirez to the post of FTC chairwoman. It can be attributed to Ed Black, the President and CEO of the Computer & Communications Industry Association.
“CCIA welcomes the President’s decision to ask Commissioner Ramirez to lead the FTC. Her current role as an FTC Commissioner, and her previous practice, intersecting both intellectual property and competition law, will provide valuable experience to fill this incredibly important position – especially as intellectual property is increasingly being exploited in anticompetitive ways.”
“As patent trolls exponentially expand the scope of their targets from tech innovators to end users like grocery and retail stores, calls for the FTC to make patent trolls a priority will no doubt increase. We are encouraged that the appointment of Ramirez is a sign of the administration’s growing recognition of the use of intellectual property in anticompetitive ways and of the need to address this critical problem.”
“We thank outgoing Chairman Liebowitz for his leadership as the FTC navigated pivotal antitrust cases.”