Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association filed comments with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on an advance proposal of rulemaking, saying the discretionary denial system for patents contradicts the statute and is often misused by foreign-backed patent trolls to get judgments against U.S. innovators and employers based on invalid or likely invalid patents. In its filing CCIA notes that discretionary denials are a clear contradiction of both the statutory text and Congress’s intent.
CCIA has advocated on patent issues for 50 years. The following can be attributed to CCIA patent counsel Josh Landau:
“We are asking the PTO to withdraw much of this set of potential rule proposals as they violate the America Invents Act, which governs the PTO’s inter partes review process. Discretionary denial has already allowed foreign-backed litigation investment entities to harm American innovators, with billions of dollars in judgments based on later-invalidated patents. A discretionary denial is always an admission that the patent is likely invalid—otherwise the PTO would simply deny on the merits. Why would we allow patent trolls to take billions of dollars from American innovators and employers based on abusive claims involving an invalid patent?”