Patent Law

The following is excerpted from an article by Alan G. Towner in Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP's Spring 2009 newsletter:

The strength of U.S. patents has been called into question recently. In the 1980s and 1990s, the value of patents was considered to be very high, due in large part to the establishment in 1982 of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which has exclusive jurisdiction over patent appeals from all of the U.S. district courts.

Before the Federal Circuit was established, there was some degree of forum shopping in patent cases ? some circuits were considered to be ?pro patent,? while one was even known as the graveyard of patents. As it turned out, the Federal Circuit fell into the ?pro patent? camp and gained a reputation as upholding the validity of patents.

However, the tide has now begun to turn. In the past few years, certain types of patents and patent owners have come under increased scrutiny. The pejorative name ?Patent Troll? was coined to describe patent owners who are not in business themselves, but rather seek only to obtain patents and license their patents to others for money.

High tech companies such as those in the software and electronics industries were particularly hard hit by Patent Trolls. Although the label ?Patent Troll? has been largely replaced today with the less inflammatory name ?Non-Practicing Entity,? there remains a strong sentiment in many industries that patent rights should be scaled back.

Read here Mr. Towner's discussion of the following cases:

1. eBay v.MercExchange;
2. In re Bilski; and
3. KSR International v. Teleflex.