Amidst a spate of high-profile IPR filings in the life sciences space by hedge fund financiers, the biotechnology industry has mobilized behind two chief legislative strategies designed to limit or eliminate its exposure to...more
After reflecting upon the events of the past twelve months, Patent Docs presents its ninth annual list of top patent stories. For 2015, we identified twenty stories that were covered on Patent Docs last year that we believe...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
Last week, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, released a 200-page Report on H.R. 9, "The innovation Act," introduced by Chairman Goodlatte with several co-sponsors earlier this year. The bill sets...more
The Innovation Act (H.R. 9), a patent reform bill introduced this congressional session, received bipartisan support in a 24-8 positive vote by the House Judiciary Committee on June 11, 2015. The bill is now scheduled to...more
Recent years have seen a wave of efforts to control frivolous patent-infringement lawsuits perpetrated by so-called patent trolls. These started with the America Invents Act of 2011 and have been followed by the Patent Law...more
Just four years ago in 2011, President Obama signed the America Invents Act (AIA) into law. Since the enactment of the AIA, there has continued to be steady pressure for further reform. In 2013, the Innovation Act was...more
In recent years, Congress has devoted a great deal of attention to patent reform. Those efforts led in 2011 to passage of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), which was the most extensive revision of the patent laws in...more
Innovation Act. Since 2013, the House and the Senate have considered various forms of patent reform legislation that attempt to address perceived patent litigation abuse. See our Dec. 9, 2013 post. In February, the House...more
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship Act (S. 1137, otherwise known as the PATENT Act) yesterday on a vote of 12-4, with Senators Grassley (R-IA), Hatch (R-UT), Sessions...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
Regular readers know I am a fan of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. The show has done multiple segments relevant to our topics of discussion. They recently did a segment on patent reform....more
This year’s debate on federal patent reform has begun in earnest. Last Friday, the White House expressed its support for the leading Senate bill, the Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship (PATENT) Act (S. 1137), and...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 discussed in a prior post, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R, VA-6th) and a bipartisan collection of sponsors* introduced a bill, once again entitled the "Innovation Act" (H.R. 3309 in the last Congress; H.R. 9 in this one) directed...more
Rep. Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has re-introduced a bill – called the Innovation Act – aimed at reforming certain aspects of the U.S. patent system. ...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
Last week, what is described as "a broad coalition" representing patent holders and inventors sent a letter to Representatives Bob Goodlatte (VA, 6th) and John Conyers (MI, 13th), Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of...more
One of the frustrations for participants in the patent wars of the early 21st Century has been the failure of many of the most vulnerable stakeholders to take a stand against overreaching proposals by proponents of a crisis...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
In December 2013 I wrote about the Innovation Act, H.R. 3309, a bill focused on patent infringement litigation and other patent law reforms that passed the House of Representatives on a bipartisan basis. My interest in the...more
In This Issue: - USPTO Issues New Guidelines for Determining Subject Matter Eligibility of Claims - Eastern District of Texas Unveils New Patent Case Track - Opening Briefs Submitted to U.S. Supreme Court in...more
With key provisions of the America Invents Act (AIA) taking effect and a host of controversial U.S. Supreme Court decisions, 2013 was another active year for intellectual property law. Big cases and big changes will continue...more