Next Wednesday, March 18 the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing entitled The Impact of Abusive Patent Litigation Practices on the American Economy. An agenda is not yet available, however, I would expect that this discussion will be in stark contrast to many of the concepts proposed in
Since the passage of the America Invents Act (AIA), the debate has raged as to whether or not the Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB) should apply the broadest reasonable claim interpretation (BRI) for AIA trial proceedings. Some patentees and bar associations have been shortsightedly advancing the notion that BRI should not be employed in the patent challenge proceedings of the AIA (Inter Partes Review (IPR) and Post Grant Review (PGR)). Instead, they urge that BRI claim construction be replaced with the claim construction practices of the district court (i.e., Philips v. AWH). This is because, they argue, the new AIA proceedings are more “adjudicative in nature” as compared to past patent reexamination practices…and amendment isn’t really possible.
Yet, if Philips were adopted by the PTAB, patentees would see little in terms of benefit. In fact, such a change would likely make matters far worse for patentees.
Continue Reading A Philips Construction at the PTAB Will Halt Patent Litigation
Well, if you expected the Goodlatte Bill to sail through the House for swift passage through the Senate, forget about it. Hill chatter has indicated that the significant House support of the Bill has diminished since the last vote in 2013 (and rightfully so given the events of the past year). Perhaps of greater threat to the patent reform effort , however, is yesterday’s introduction of the “STRONG Act” on the Senate side (here), which makes clear that further patent reform is far from guaranteed for 2015.
The STRONG Act, or “Support Technology and Research for Our Nation’s Growth Patents Act of 2015” removes the controversial fee shifting provision of the Goodlatte Bill (a key point of contention in past battles). More importantly, the Senate Bill adds a multitude of proposed changes to AIA trial proceedings that will have patent abusers dancing in the streets —the Bill is more aptly titled the “Support Trolls & Reverse Our Nation’s Progress under the AIA Act of 2015.”
While this legislative grenade may not have much chance ever seeing the light of day, it is surprising that such misguided proposals would be seriously offered in the first instance.
Continue Reading Senate Democrats Propose Bill to Gut AIA Trials
As expected, House Judiciary Committee Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) today introduced a revised version of his 2013 bill (H.R. 3309), as H.R. 9 (here). Aside from cosmetic changes, the new bill makes few substantive changes to the content of H.R. 3309. As a reminder, H.R. 3309 was
This time last year, further patent reform efforts had steamrolled their way through the House. While the House passed the Goodlatte Bill with surprising urgency, efforts on the Senate side became hopelessly deadlocked last spring on a variety of contentious issues. Since that time, a significant amount of change has come to the world of patent law thanks to a number of significant Supreme Court rulings. At the same time, the administrative patentability trials of the 2011 America Invents Act (AIA) continue to wreak havoc on the business model of patent assertion entities.
So, it is no surprise that further patent reform has lost some of its 2013 mojo on Capitol Hill.
Continue Reading Further Patent Reform…..Don’t Believe the Hype
With the incoming Republican majority itching to make their mark, patent reform appears at the top of the legislative agenda for 2015. As discussed previously,
the interest in further reform is based more on political expediency than true need. That is, selling the American public that legislation has actually
As we approach the witching hour of mid-term elections, Congress begins to turn back to the business of law making. With so few legislative initiatives having meaningful bipartisan support, and a lame duck executive eager to appear — well, not so lame, patent reform offers political opportunity.
Something wicked this way comes.
Continue Reading Renewed Patent Reform Chatter, Why?
With the writing on the wall for weeks now, today, the Senate Judiciary Committee officially pulled the plug on the Patent Transparency and Improvements Act. The Bill was ambitiously designed to carry the comprehensive changes of the Goodlatte Bill (passed by the House in late 2013
With yet another (5th or 6th?) manager’s amendment delay announced yesterday by the Senate Judiciary Committee, it is clear that momentum for patent reform is waning on the Senate side. Whether it be the recent Supreme Court decisions mooting the need for fee shifting (in the minds of
This morning the Senate Judiciary Committee once again delayed release of the manager’s amendment of The Patent Transparency & Improvement Act. Perhaps the committee needed additional time to study the impact of this week’s Supreme Court cases on sanctions— or, more likely, this is just a