Last month, in a letter to the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary, 101 patient organizations expressed "concern[] that, as currently written, H.R. 9 [the Innovation Act] falls short of preserving important patent...more
PTAB Update on Inter Partes Review - On August 19, 2015, the Director of the USPTO released a blog post reporting on the state of post-grant review proceedings created by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act of 2011 and...more
Many pharmaceutical companies have complained about the IPR petitions filed by Kyle Bass and the Coalition for Affordable Drugs against Orange Book-listed patents covering approved pharmaceutical products, but Celgene Corp....more
Last month, in a letter to Congressional leadership, 79 Members of Congress expressed their support for the Innovation Act (H.R. 9) but sought inclusion of language in the bill "to preserve the integrity of the Drug Price...more
Earlier this month, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a cost estimate for the Innovation Act (H.R. 9). The bill, which was introduced in February, was reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary in June. The...more
Recently the House Judiciary Committee voted 24-8 to approve a revised version of the Innovation Act. As we previously discussed, the Innovation Act was re-introduced in the House earlier this year in the same form approved...more
On April 29, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA), along with fellow Committee members Orrin Hatch (R-UT), John Cornyn (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Amy...more
On February 5, 2015, Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R-VA) introduced H.R. 9, entitled the “Innovation Act.” Among other things, the bill would direct courts to award attorneys’ fees and litigation-related expenses to prevailing...more
Congress v SCtPatent litigation reform has been on the U.S. House Judiciary Committee agenda, with the recent reintroduction of legislation seeking to address patent litigation abuses and a hearing examining recent U.S....more
FEDERAL CIRCUIT CASES - Federal Circuit Declines to Extend Patent Exhaustion Doctrine - In a February 10, 2015 decision, the Federal Circuit reversed a grant of summary judgment of non-infringement under the...more
On February 5, 2015, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) introduced the Innovation Act, which is touted as “address[ing] the ever increasing problem of abusive patent litigation.” The bill was introduced...more
As expected by almost everyone (and anticipated by several groups who urged him not to do so; see "Pro-Patent Coalition Writes Letter to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees" and "Big Ten Lobbies Congress to Tread...more
Efforts by the U.S. Senate to pass an alternative to the Innovation Act, which aims to reform abusive patent litigation, have stalled. Sen. Patrick Leahy, who is leading the effort, has announced that his committee is tabling...more
On Tuesday, we presented a live webinar on the "Top Patent Law Stories of 2013." The webinar covered ten of the fourteen stories that made it onto Patent Docs seventh annual list of top biotech/pharma patent stories. Posts...more
The U.S. Congress continues to focus on patent reform legislation with House passage of the Innovation Act, a bill primarily addressing the conduct of patent litigation. While much attention has been paid to litigation...more
As we reported last week, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3309, the Innovation Act, by on overwhelming margin. A copy of the final bill can be found here. The next step is consideration by the U.S. Senate, where on...more
The House of Representatives earlier today passed H.R. 3309, the Innovation Act, by a 325 - 91 vote. Before voting on the bill, the House spent several hours debating and voting on a number of amendments. Other than a...more
Congress continues to explore ways to address the explosion of flimsy patent litigation claims by so-called non-practicing entities. On December 5, 2013, the Innovation Act (H.R. 3309) was approved by the House of...more
On November 14, 2013, the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC) and King & Spalding co-hosted a thought leadership event focused on abusive patent litigation and its effect on U.S. innovation. The Capitol Hill event...more
What everybody doesn't seem to know is how to get Congress to listen to the needs of the innovation community when well-heeled sectors put their lobbying and financial support in favor of legislation purportedly aimed at...more
Earlier today, the House Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing to discuss the Innovation Act (H.R. 3309), a bill that was introduced last week by the Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). The Committee...more
Following two earlier drafts floated in May and September 2013, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte on October 23, 2013 formally introduced a bill, titled the “Innovation Act,” aimed at curbing abusive patent...more
After releasing two "discussion drafts," Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) (at right), the Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary, finally introduced a bill in the House on October 23, 2013, with the non-descript title of...more