"China? Let’s Clean Up Our Own IP First"by Inventors Digest | Jun 25, 2018
"Recent federal circuit rulings give patent owners hope; infringer defendants may no longer be able to count on summary motion to dispose of lawsuits quickly and inexpensively, as previously prevailed.
.. However, there may finally be some light at the end of this rabbit hole. Patent owners have recently received some good news from the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Two decisions from the court in Berkheimer v. HP and in Aatrix Software v. Green Shades Software stated that deciding whether a patent may simply embody an “abstract idea” may also be a question of facts, not just one of law.
Why is this important? A question of law can be adjudicated upon by a judge on summary motion, while a mixed question of law and facts must go before a trial jury. This means that defendants may no longer be able to count on summary motion to dispose of lawsuits quickly and inexpensively, as previously prevailed after the Alice decision. Facing the prospect of a full trial on the merits and the possibility that a jury of peers may be more sympathetic to an inventor than a judge, infringers could be forced to revisit their assumptions and realize there is value in that licensing discussion after all.
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On the legislative front
One would be remiss not to mention the introduction of two separate bill proposals in Congress (yes, Congress still works!). The first one, dubbed the Small Business Innovation Protection Act, is a “feel-good” law that helps small businesses protect their intellectual property by improving education related to obtaining and protecting patents. The bill requires the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to work together to leverage existing outreach programs to better educate small businesses on domestic and international patents.
The second, the STRONGER Patent Act, is much more substantial and was introduced in the House after earlier introduction in the Senate. It is sponsored by both U.S. Reps. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) and Bill Foster (D-Ill.), who indicated that the STRONGER Patents Act is needed now because “recent changes to patent laws have made patents harder to defend and enforce, and they have devalued American intellectual property.” They also enumerate perceived shortcomings of the PTAB, including that “the PTAB now routinely throws out patents that have been duly awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office using loopholes and weaker disparate standards,” that “it has canceled patents after district courts upheld the patent,” and that patent owners are forced to frequently battle both in court and at the PTAB with conflicting decisions.” BIO, the industry association representing the biotech businesses, came out publicly supporting the bill.
Although this bill joins a large group of other legislation intended to further reform patent law, it is noteworthy that the most recent bills introduced in Congress tend to support stronger patent rights, which would suggest that the anti-troll narrative may have finally met its Waterloo. But never underestimate the power of lobbying. Nobody should presume how this is going to end".
https://www.inventorsdigest.com/articles/china-lets-clean-ip-first/