Corporations and individual inventors have long relied on patent rights to profit from their ideas, and to create new products. Antitrust law, in theory, acts as a counterbalance to ensure such rights are not abused, and that consumers have access to a wide range of goods and services at competitive prices. 

Yet, the number of patents issued annually has nearly tripled over the past 20 years, and the Justice Department and the FTC are growing concerned that the delicate balance between IP and antitrust law is gradually tipping in favor of the patent holder at the expense of competition. 

“We need to understand the recent trend in patent proliferation," said FTC Chairman Timothy Muris, speaking at the American Bar Association’s Fall Antitrust conference on Wednesday. “Perhaps it is intellectual property doctrine that is not showing a proper appreciation for the innovation that competition may spur." 

Muris said the hearings would address “overbroad patents,” such as controversial business method patents, or those that seek to corner the intellectual property possession of tools that are widely used by many companies on the Internet to engage in e-business. 

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office is taking a closer look at how it processes patent applications for business methods, in response to criticism that such patents award companies intellectual property rights for simply shifting a tried-and-true way of doing business to the Internet space. 

One of the more notorious examples is Amazon.com's patent for "one-click shopping," which led to Amazon to sue operators of barnesandnoble.com for its own use of this technology. Elsewhere, some of the most controversial high-tech patents have been granted to researchers mapping the human genome, though obviously they did not invent DNA. 

Several House lawmakers have introduced legislation to address the issue. Reps. Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Rick Boucher, R-Va., have introduced legislation to clarify that Internet applications of existing business methods are obvious, and thus unable to be patented. 

Specifically, the bill changes the burden of proof to a challenge to the patent's validity from requiring "clear and convincing evidence" to a "preponderance" of evidence." 

The legislation also would require the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to publish all business method patent applications after 18 months, offer an administrative "opposition" process to settle disputes without litigation, and consider a patent unapproved if its only distinguishing business method factor is that it uses a computer to accomplish the task. 

Muris said the hearings would tackle a number of other emerging intellectual property concerns, including cross-licensing and patent pools, unilateral refusals to deal or license patented technology and the role of the Federal Circuit in the patent suit and dispute process.