A new breed of patent litigation reform is developing that has less to do with patent law and more to do with consumer protection. Prompted by the practice of patent trolls, threatening businesses with expensive patent litigation to extract a licensing fee, recent legislative proposals have an underlying policy of protecting the public from unfair trade practices.
Akin to labeling and truth in advertising laws that help consumers make informed choices, a number of recently introduced bills require patent trolls to provide more information to defendants than is currently required. For example, some bills require specific information describing the relevance of the asserted patent to the accused product, as well as disclosure of the "ultimate parent entity" that owns the patent. This information theoretically enables the defendant to make an informed decision regarding the threatened lawsuit. For example, whether to mount an active defense, or to license the patent asserted by the troll thereby settling the case.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
