Economics at the FTC: Deceptive Claims, Market Definition, and Patent Assertion Entities

Abstract

Economists in the FTC’s Bureau of Economics (BE) perform a variety of economic analyses to support the Commission’s missions to protect consumers and maintain competition. This analysis can affect important decisions via many avenues. This article describes examples where BE analysis has served as an input into a Commission investigation of deceptive claims, supported testimony in court proceedings in hospital mergers, and provided the empirical foundation for a study of immediate policy relevance on intellectual property.