The biggest news out of the E.D. Texas Bench Bar Conference from last week appears to be that the Court has entered a Model Order Focusing Patent Claims and Prior Art to Reduce Costs. The Model Order, based on the Federal Circuit model order with some important differences, is important for retailers who routinely
Stop Bad Patents: Retailers Take Action
Several retail trade associations — the Food Marketing Institute, National Retail Foundation, National Restaurant Association, and the Internet Association — are working together to fund a national print and radio advertising campaign to combat trolls. The ads ask people to call their legislators and ask them to take action to prevent bad
Patent Troll Reform: Existing Laws Do Not Protect Retailers
Between the National Retail Foundation coverage and the national news coverage of President Obama’s statements on patent trolls, every retailer is aware of a growing swell of support for patent reform targeted at stopping the patent troll problem. And the problem is as big for retailers, as for any business sector. The NRF’s Senior Vice
Vermont Takes on Patent Trolls
Vermont has passed a bill, which the Governor is expected to sign into law (H.299) called “Bad Faith Assertions of Patent Infringements” — hat tip to Eric Goldman for identifying the law. Instead of defining bad faith assertions, it provides factors that may identify bad faith assertions, including:
- Failing to identifying the patent(s)-at-issue;
Retail is Troll’s Hardest Hit Non-Tech Sector
Santa Clara Law Professor Colleen Chien recently wrote an interesting article on Patently-O discussing some key patent troll statistics in light of President Obama’s troll comments and the new SHIELD Act. Here are some of the key takeaways for retailers:
- In 2012, trolls filed 62% of patent litigations – 2,921 of 4,701 suits.
- Retailers are
Will the SHIELD Act Have the Impact Retailers Expect?
Retailers have been generally excited about the loser pays system the proposed SHIELD Act would create for trolls. But a recent iam blog discussing comments from Patent Freedom suggests the SHIELD Act may not have the impact many retailers expect. According to Patent Freedom:
75% of trolls are asserting only patents originally assigned to them
Inventors Get Small Portion of Publicly Traded Patent Troll Revenues
Boston University School of Law Professors James Bessen and Michael Meurer wrote an insightful article at Patently-O looking at the ten publicly listed patent trolls from 2005 until 2010, including many well known to retailers such as Acacia. Here are some of their findings:
- Licensing revenues for the six year period was $68B. The mean
The SHIELD Act is Back Promising a Loser Pays System for Retailers
The SHIELD Act — Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes — is back. The SHIELD Act was originally introduced in the last Congress and would have awarded costs, including reasonable attorney’s fees, to a prevailing defendant when, upon completion of the case, a Court held that the patentholder’s case had not had a reasonable
President Obama Addresses the Patent Troll “Problem”
With a hat tip to Dennis Crouch at Patently-O, President Obama recently addressed the patent troll “problem” as part of a Google Fireside Hangout. The patent troll question and the President’s answer start shortly after the 16:00 mark of the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=kp_zigxMS-Y
President Obama’s answer is straightforward and focused upon addressing the problem.
Retailers Require a Market-Based Solution to the Patent Troll Problem
Professor Colleen Chien from Santa Clara Law spoke at the December 10 DOJ/FTC troll conference. As a follow up to the conference, she offered IAM Magazine her thoughts attempting to put our current troll situation, which she acknowledges is “disruptive” for business, with two other historical periods of increased troll activity involving railroads and sewing