Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association has joined multiple other trade associations in the technology sector to file an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to hear a patent case, Intel v. Squires. The outcome is important to preserve a patent review process that has been effective in eliminating weak patents that can be misused by bad actors seeking to exploit the US patent system.
In the brief, CCIA notes that the US Patent and Trademark Office’s recent actions “violate its authorizing statute and are dismantling the congressionally enacted system of patent validity review.” Last year, the USPTO adopted new rules that would effectively eliminate the ability to use this review process, known as inter partes review (IPR), for companies being sued, often by so-called patent trolls in pro-plaintiff jurisdictions.
Cases brought by those seeking to abuse the patent system, typically using weak or ambiguous patents, have increased considerably in recent months and often target innovative U.S. companies that are helping boost the economy. Patent trolls are often holding companies designed to hide the true bad actors pulling the strings from the shadows.
For more than 50 years, CCIA has advocated for a patent review process that can help clear away invalid patents, particularly those being misused by purely rent-seeking patent trolls that aim to shake down companies under the threat of abusive lawsuits. Congress ultimately agreed by passing the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), which established IPRs and the specialized court of expert judges to hear them (the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, or PTAB). For well over a decade, PTAB and IPRs have been highly effective at reducing abusive patent-troll litigation. Recent policy changes by the Patent Office to curb IPRs and dismantle PTAB are endangering that progress.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President & CEO Matt Schruers:
“This review process is one of the few weapons to combat patent trolls and should be preserved. Allowing the current outcome to stand would make it even harder to challenge weak patents that bad actors increasingly use against innovators, leading to widespread litigation that needlessly drives up prices of consumer goods and medications. The Supreme Court should take up this patent case.”
