Posts Tagged: "Consumer Technology Association"

Consumer Technology Association Preaches Patent Troll Fairy Tale to Crowd During Fireside Chat with Iancu at SXSW

USPTO Director Andrei Iancu participated in a fireside chat, titled “The Crossroads of Technology and Innovation,” hosted by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) at its sixth annual Innovation Policy Day on Tuesday, March 12 at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Sitting with Director Iancu was host Michael Hayes, Sr. Manager of Government Affairs for the CTA. The chat was quite short and briefly touched on topics such as celebrating the 10 millionth-issued patent, the preparedness of the patent system for the future, artificial intelligence and patent eligibility, and the availability of patenting for all peoples. Then, in what some may consider to be an unscrupulous move, Hayes introduced the narrative of patent trolls.

Gary Shapiro takes self-righteous stand against patent trolls despite obvious bias in favor of infringers

It is difficult to witness people like Gary Shapiro self-righteously railing against the patent system when they stand to gain from weakened patent rights… Shapiro continues on his defense of the PTAB by noting similarities between patent validity challenges and trials: “Lawyers make their case to the Patent Trials and Appeals Board (PTAB), and three highly qualified administrative patent judges hear their case and come to a decision.” Highly qualified or not, there is at least one administrative patent judge (APJ) who has sat on panels issuing final written decisions on trials petitioned by a former employer, a situation which would require a sua sponte recusal in district court to answer any concerns over potential conflicts of interests. Furthermore, the Patent Office has admitted to stacking PTAB panels so that cases are decided in the manner desired by the Director, which is as difficult to believe as it is stunning. Clearly, the PTAB is not an independent tribunal that exercises decisional independence. The PTAB has also removed pro-patent decisions from its database, refused to consider timely submitted evidence, fundamentally misappled the law of obviousness, determined that an MRI machine is an abstract idea, and blatantly ignoring the law with respect to CBM patents. Shapiro paints a picture of a PTAB that defies experience and simply is not realistic.