Without the government actually doing something about it, it's difficult to see any changes to the current action. US House Representatives voted 325-91 last December to approve the bill sponsored by Robert Goodlatte. It encourages judges to hear patent cases to award fees to the winner of an patent lawsuit. It will be more affordable for defendants to respond to patent trolls in courts rather than settling since it would make it less costly for them to fight now.
It's interesting because Innovation Act also raises harsher penalties when case is filed and lost by plantiff. So it means that not everyone can just sue out of nowhere in order to gain settlement costs. Goodlatte commented that, "The tens of billions of dollars spent on settlements and litigation expenses associated with abusive patent suits represent truly wasted capital. The patent system was never intended to be a playground for litigation extortion and frivolous claims.”
I also agree with his statement. Innovation Act could actually solve the problems of patent trolls. At least, it could minimize the suits by patent trolls.
- It will cause patent trolls to re-think about suing smaller companies in order to gain settlement costs.
- Smaller companies will no longer be afraid of patent trolls as it will cost them less when they actually go to court.
It's also interesting to see that large companies support this measures including Cisco, Apple, Google, and other technology companies. Although there could be some downfalls, the bill looks promising.
Source:
http://www.insidecounsel.com/2014/01/30/president-obama-pushes-congress-to-pass-anti-paten
Wow! I think it was fascinating to learn that a median patent suit costs around 2 million dollars! I think preventing patent trolls from suing companies is a very important and relevant issue in the patent law, because it goes against the purpose of patents and why they were originally created-- to protect the inventor and allow the inventor to be compensated for the invention before allowing competitors to step in and copy the idea. I do feel that the government should step in to tackle this issue. Thanks for sharing the bill sponsored by Goodlatte. I also think it is very important to protect smaller companies, especially start-ups, so that they are no longer afraid of patent trolls. Smaller companies have very limited resources and they should really focus their time and effort in the R&D phase and growing the company. Thanks Dong!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, thanks for the thoughtful reply! It's insane how much patent cases could cost for everyone. That figure alone could intimidate several companies from settling in the first place. I was a bit shocked at the price although it was brought up in class. Anyway, I really hope the government could do something about patent trolls through bills and reforms. I also agree that we should protect startups. After all, that's why sillicon valley became such a popular place.
DeleteWhile it is great to have harsher penalties for the plaintiff should they lose, it might also mean that should a young start-up decides to sue a big company for copying their patented idea but end up losing, they could lose even more. Since it will cost less if the big companies win, they may be willing to spend even more money to defend their case, which certainly does not bode well with start-ups. Then again, a start-up will probably be busy with managing itself to pick on a fight with the big guys, unless they have done their homework well to warrant a successful fight.
ReplyDeleteI believe the whole point of it is to reduce the pointless patent litigation that will go no where in the end. If small companies can't win against big companies based on infringement alone, they should not sue anyway. It will make everyone happy, I feel. But, in most patent cases anyway, big companies have resources to bully almost everyone.
DeleteI think the Innovation Act establishes a fair compromise between patent trolls and corporations. If the patents the troll posses have truly been infringed, then the lawsuit will rightfully be filed and the troll should be able to win and give part of the settlement or awards to the innovator as a reward. However, should the troll be stretching the applicability of the patent, then the courts will be able to decide the fate; if the troll loses, then they will need to cover the legal fees of the defense as well. This helps prevent trolls from recklessly suing companies to receive licensing fees.
ReplyDeleteI also agree. I hope Innovation Act could save the companies from going down. It's like telling the trolls to sue them if they can win. If not, they need to pay for the price. I feel like this should have been in place years ago. Why did they just start to think this out?
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