Friday, April 26, 2019

RPX - Patent Litigation and Marketplace Report - Public Excerpt

RPX's Patent Litigation and Marketplace Report - Public Excerpt (March 2019) tells us "the pendulum" is swinging back in favor of patent owners:

"The US patent system is often described as a pendulum, swinging between periods of change favoring first patent owners and then defendants. Just a few years ago, that arc bent toward defendants, as reforms implemented by the America Invents Act (AIA) and judicial decisions like Alice made it easier for companies to defend against patent suits and pushed patent prices down. However, there are now clear signs that the pendulum is swinging back ...."

Copyright © 2019 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Engadget - Amazon tries hiring lawyers for sellers claiming patent infringement - And it only costs $4,000

In Amazon tries hiring lawyers for sellers claiming patent infringement, Engadget reports Amazon has figured out how to deal with patent infringement.

In short, patent owner pays $4,000 fee to have case heard by a neutral. If defendant doesn't pay $4,000 fee to enable a rebuttal, the patent owner gets fee back and defendant's product is removed from Amazon. If both parties pay their fees, the neutral evaluates the merits and rules: a winning patent owner gets $4,000 fee back and an injunction, and a losing defendant's $4,000 fee pays the neutral for evaluation. A losing patent owner's $4,000 fee is used to pay for the neutral evaluation, the defendant gets $4,000 fee back and the accused product stays on Amazon.

Liked the article but appears short on basic details. For example, can an accused infringer go to district court to seek reversal of a "bad decision" by an Amazon neutral? Another question, can a winning US patent owner get an injunction against foreign sales?

Copyright © 2019 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.