News

Pandemic Shines Spotlight on Problem of Bad Patents

Lucy Van Schaijik · Jun 8, 2020 ·

In the wake of COVID-19’s economic destruction, policymakers face the challenging task of kickstarting the economy and re-opening the country for business. Unemployment rates have spiked, reaching a staggering 14.7 million in April. Three out of four U.S. small businesses have applied for government assistance—82 percent of which are manufacturers. A successful relaunch must include efforts to eliminate unnecessary frictions to economic activity, such as outdated regulations. Legal threats to economic growth must also be avoided. Fortunately, that is exactly what happened when the Supreme Court decided Thryv, Inc. v. Click-to-Call Technologies last month.

Letter to the Editor from Beau Phillips in response to The Economist article

Lucy Van Schaijik · Jun 3, 2020 ·

The patents process is fair

Rolling back the advances that have been made in America’s patent system (“The trouble with patent-troll hunting”, December 14th) would only reduce fairness and vastly increase the cost of patent disputes. You pointed to the example of a small firm with “no in-house lawyers” that has run up expensive bills defending the validity of its asserted patents before the us Patent and Trademark Office. Yet these inter partes reviews are fair, highly successful administrative proceedings created by Congress in 2011.

Inter Partes Review Stops Patent Trolls in Their Tracks

Lucy Van Schaijik · Jun 3, 2020 ·

As the owner and founder of Queen Tackle, a small North Carolina fishing tackle business I run with my son, we help contribute to the $2 trillion American manufacturing industry. But as a small business, we’re also acutely aware of our bottom line.

I currently have a patent pending, and as someone who speaks to others in similar manufacturing businesses, I know that reforms in the American patent system have played a critical role in our economic resurgence. Undoing these reforms, as some now want to do, would put companies like mine at risk.

Patent-trolls frequently target American manufacturers. This is exactly what I recently experienced. A much larger competitor accused me of patent infringement and filed suit, never even specifying the patent that had allegedly been infringed upon. Challenging this suit has not been cheap. And battling a case like this in the courts is a long, slow process. Many small companies might just give up.

When the Pandemic Passes, Will Congress Remember Manufacturers?

Lucy Van Schaijik · Jun 3, 2020 ·

COVID-19 continues to take huge hits on the American economy, and nearly 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits. Manufacturing has been particularly hard hit. A survey conducted at the beginning of the outbreak by the National Association of Manufacturers found that nearly 80 percent of the industry anticipates a financial impact, and more than 50 percent expect a change in operations as a result of the virus. Still manufacturers are working to address a shortage of medical supplies, despite threats of patent trolls and abusive patent litigation. Let’s put it in context.

Make Patent Reform Part of the Recovery Agenda

Lucy Van Schaijik · Jun 1, 2020 ·

In the face of the twin crises of public health and economic contraction, bold measures are necessary to stop the spread of COVID-19 and bring about a swift recovery.

Washington must also help revive domestic manufacturing and mitigate the risks posed by a supply chain that can be throttled by Chinese Communist Party edicts. Accomplishing all this requires reforming the U.S. patent system.

The basic idea behind protecting patents is sound. It provides innovators with a way to recoup the upfront costs of investment, and owning a patent is a signal of quality that makes startups attractive to investors.

But, as with any other government program, the implementation of this basic idea is vulnerable to being abused, and that abuse results in harm to business growth and economic development.