The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice are teaming up to look at the patent troll problem. Initially, the FTC and the DOJ are seeking public comment regarding the impact of trolls (or “patent assertion entities”). You can send public comments to ATR.LPS-PAEPublicComments@usdoj.gov until March 10, 2013. In addition to seeking public comments,
Does the Patent System Legitimize Trolls?
Chicago-Kent Professor David Schwartz and University of Illinois Jay Kesan have written a thought-provoking article looking at what empirical data tells us about trolls (click here for their Patently-O summary of the article). Blog readers will remember that Schwartz has recently written an interesting article analyzing the empirical characteristics of trolls and
Federal Circuit Clears Way to Sever & Transfer Patent Cases
The Federal Circuit recently issued an important decision that should pave the way for transferring cases to retailers’ home districts. In In re EMC Corp., Docket No. 100, several co-defendants whose motions to sever and transfer their cases in a pre-AIA multi-defendant suit appeals to the Federal Circuit on a writ of mandamus. Looking only
Patent Trolls a “Modern Day Mafia?”
In a recent Washington Post article, Vivek Wadhwa, a Stanford University fellow, identifies patent trolls as “modern day mafia.” Wadhwa focuses on software patents, the trolls’ favorite type of patent and the scourge of every retailer. Wadhwa looks briefly at the argument to eliminate software patents, advanced by tech giant Brad Feld, and then quickly
An Empirical Study of Patent Trolls
Villanova law professor Michael Risch is publishing a new paper based upon his two-year study of patent trolls (focused upon the ten most litigious trolls). Here are some of the highlights:
- Only 8% of asserted patents included business method claims.
- Software and business method patents combined only made up 31% of asserted patents. Those percentages
Another Call for Patent Reform
The Wall Street Journal continues its focus on the patent troll problem with a provocative article by columnist Holly Finn: A Patently Obvious Problem. Finn notes the amazing growth the U.S. has seen in issued patents – 70,000 U.S. patents issued in 1977 compared to almost 250,000 in 2011. Finn provides a succinct description of
Patent Trolls: Know Them When You See Them
In the lead up to a recent Stratford Publications CLE program that I gave regarding troll-proofing your business and defense strategies for troll cases, I received an interesting and earnest question about what a patent troll was. The question was unique in that it carefully laid out arguments on both sides and was not fueled
American Invents Act: The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
BNA has an interesting article by James Pistorino of Perkins Coie and Susan Crane looking at the impact of the America Invents Act (“AIA”) on district court patent litigation filings. The article looks at 2011 data, only one quarter of which is after enactment of the AIA. But even a quarter’s data tells a clear
Actual Patent Reform: Addressing the Patent Troll Problem
Andy Kessler, a former hedge fund manager and the author of “Eat People”, has a compelling opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) arguing for further patent reform to reign in the damage patent tolls are doing to the economy. As I have discussed many times, last year’s patent reform (the America Invents
Retailer Patent Litigation News: Arbitration, Patent Trolls and the ITC
I have been holding a number of news stories and blog posts that will be valuable to retailers, but did not warrant a full blog post. So, what follows are links to those and some thoughts on why you will find them valuable:
- Federal Circuit Reaffirms Power of Arbitration Clauses. David Healey at PatentMath looks