Manufactured products, particularly forged products, simply cannot reach their intended market without the labor of humans.

This column will discuss activity at the intersection of competition policy/competition law with intellectual-property (IP) law.

Many readers may have been introduced to the term "patent troll" and wonder exactly what a patent troll is and whether patent trolls really exist.

Developing new products is difficult enough, whether it is a new invention from the proverbial drawing board or a modification of an existing product. One of the key issues facing corporations today is how to protect developments for new machines, products, forging processes, etc.

While many of us might not think of trade secrets (such as the formula for Coca-Cola) as being commonplace, the National Science Foundation estimates that corporations actually employ trade secrets perhaps two times as often as patents.