The American National Standards Institute will host its 2005 Annual Conference on Oct. 6 at the Marriott at Metro Center in Washington, D.C. The conference, “From A to Veeck: Standardization and the Law,” will provide an opportunity for anyone involved in the standards process to get up to speed on the legal issues involved in their work. Speakers and panelists will address topics such as antitrust issues, embedded patents and the related patent policies being used in the standards community today. There will also be a dialogue on the distinction between open source and open standards, a topic that has been getting a lot of attention in the high-tech industry.

Updates on legislative initiatives will address topics such as the protection of developers during standards-setting activities and recent developments concerning tort liability in standards development. The conference will conclude with a review of copyright issues related to standards setting and an update on the Veeck case and its implications on the standards community.

The event has been scheduled to coincide with World Standards Week, Oct. 3–7.

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