Posts Tagged: "Patent Act"

The Patent Venue Statute: A Dinosaur that Requires Extinction

Why does the patent venue statute shield accused infringers from patent litigations in states where they have registered to do business as foreign corporations?  Isn’t that part of the quid pro-quo of doing business in the district?  The general venue statute does not provide such a shield; so why provide it in patent cases?  Maybe the time has come to kill the patent venue statute entirely because without it, patent cases would fall under the general venue statute and be treated like other corporate litigations.

Rethinking Article III Standing in IPR Appeals at the Federal Circuit

In 2011, as part of the American Invents Act (“AIA”), Congress significantly restructured the way in which previously issued patents could be challenged.   In some cases, existing post-issuance proceedings, like ex parte reexamination and reissue proceedings, were kept intact as such proceedings existed prior to the AIA.  In other cases, existing post-issuance proceedings, like inter partes reexamination, were replaced with new proceedings, such as the inter partes review proceedings (“IPRs”).    In addition, brand new proceedings were created, such as post-grant review proceedings (“PGRs”), covered business method patent review proceedings (“CBMs”), and supplemental examination proceedings.  In each instance, Congress made policy choices as to who could (or could not) bring and/or participate in such proceedings, and who could (or could not) raise challenges to decisions made by the government in such proceedings. 

Proving A Patent Invalid: The Burden is on the Challenger

When an individual or company challenges the validity of a patent, “the burden of establishing invalidity of a patent or any claim thereof shall rest on the party asserting such invalidity.” In other words, the challenger bears the burden of demonstrating that the patent is invalid—the individual or company holding the patent need not show that the patent is valid. However, the text of the statute is silent on the precise nature of the challenger’s burden.

Design Patent Owners Find Optimism in Columbia Sportswear Jury Verdict

The first design patent case to go to trial since Apple v. Samsung has given design patent owners hope that a ‘total profit’ award is still achievable… Patent owners are keeping a close eye on how juries respond to the new legal framework, and will be carefully attuned to appeals from these cases as the Federal Circuit addresses the standards that apply to design patent damages cases going forward. If patent owners continue to get total profits for design patent infringement, even after Samsung v. Apple, companies are likely to increase their efforts in obtaining design patents, particularly given the current climate facing utility patents.

When all else fails, consult the statute!

Specifically, the petition presents the question: is patent ineligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101, which Congress did not codify in 35 U.S.C. § 282(b), not a cognizable defense in a patent litigation? The question presented parallels that of the one recently decided by the Supreme Court in SCA Hygiene Products Aktiebolag v. First Quality Baby Products, LLC, 137 S. Ct. 954 (2017). In SCA Hygiene, the Supreme Court examined 35 U.S.C. § 282(b), which enumerates the defenses that may be raised in a patent litigation, and held that laches, which is not recited in § 282(b), is not a defense to patent damages within the statute of limitations set forth in 35 U.S.C. § 286. RPost’s petition asks the Court to again examine § 282(b) in order to determine whether patent ineligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101, which, like laches, is not recited in § 282(b), is similarly not a defense that may be raised in a patent litigation.