John LeRoy Featured in Crain’s Detroit Business

Southfield, Mich. – Brooks Kushman Shareholder John LeRoy was featured in Crain’s Detroit Business’ July 23, 2017 article, “Automakers need to be ready when licensors come knocking.” The article focuses on the recent development of connected technologies in the automotive industry, such as cellular, WiFi, and the tens of thousands of purportedly “standard essential” patents that allegedly cover them.

LeRoy stated that automakers are often in a difficult position because they are not the designer or manufacturer of the wireless technology that is at issue. He said, “the major challenge, in some cases, is that there is no analysis provided to the automaker; they didn’t develop the chip, they didn’t manufacture it. Yet the automaker is expected to pay the license for technology they are not familiar with. As a result of “standard essential” patent licensing and the complications associated with it, LeRoy recommends automakers and suppliers take a proactive approach, and develop a strategy for negotiating with the relevant patent holders.

LeRoy  leads the firms FRAND Licensing practice and works with automotive OEMs and suppliers to address licensing demands from a wide variety of standard essential patent holders. His practice primarily focuses on patent, trade secret and copyright litigation in the software and electrical arts.

The full article can be found on Crain’s Detroit Business’ website here.