Standards at Risk

Trust the Structure

The 6G Call to Action and the standards system America built

Aug 7 • Jim Harlan

July 2026

Case Study: A Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Left a University Holding More Leverage Than it had

This case-study highlights what every restructuring practitioner should understand about patent licenses in university-backed technology bankruptcies.

Jul 27 • Jim Harlan

June 2026

Cell towers in space still run on somebody’s standard

Starlink's direct-to-cell push is sold as an outsider toppling the carriers. It rides on licensable technology that 6G makes native, and the 2028 LA…

Jun 29 • Jim Harlan

Prepared to Grant

The Clause 6.1 obligation sits at the foundation of FRAND. Optis v Apple will reach the UK Supreme Court without it.

Jun 26 • Jim Harlan

Filing a Comment, Then Indexing Who Else Did:

A Note on Docket ATR-2026-0001

Jun 12 • Jim Harlan

The Prediction Was Correct

InterDigital and Amazon announced a patent license agreement today, June 11, 2026. Here is what this series got right, what it got wrong, and what comes…

Jun 11 • Jim Harlan

May 2026

When the Frame Is the Problem: Reading Coffee & Standards

Full disclosure: Used AI to summarize chapters of the 300+ page document and then personally reviewed sections to confirm accuracy / content.

May 27 • Jim Harlan

The Guidelines Are Gone. Here Is What Needs to Replace Them.

A summary of my comment to the DOJ/FTC "Guidance on Business Collaborations"

May 22 • Jim Harlan

InterDigital v Amazon, Part 5: The Arbitration Weapon

The May 12 Acer v Nokia judgment changed the instrument. It did not rewrite the work.

May 18 • Jim Harlan

The 2026 Special 301 Report: Recognition Without a Framework

The United States Trade Representative acknowledged standard-essential patent risks in its annual report. Here is what that means, what it misses, and…

May 2 • Jim Harlan

InterDigital v Amazon, Part 4: What the 10-Q Changes

For the first time, this analysis is anchored to an SEC-filed primary source document. Here is what changes when you replace a single news article with…

May 1 • Jim Harlan

April 2026

Three Regulators, One Market

The short version

Apr 28 • Jim Harlan