Last week, CCIA filed a statement on the public interest in Qualcomm v. Apple at the International Trade Commission (ITC), Qualcomm’s newest attempt to use patent law to reinforce their monopoly power over the baseband processor market. In a response filed yesterday, Qualcomm accused CCIA of partaking in a “coordinated effort aimed at misdirecting the…
Blog Posts
If Qualcomm Wins At The ITC, We All Lose
by Josh Landau • • 2 Comments
This afternoon, CCIA filed comments on the public interest in the Qualcomm v. Apple case pending at the International Trade Commission (ITC). Qualcomm sued Apple in the ITC as part of the large dispute between the two companies. (The dispute continues to grow, having recently added a case in Germany and suits and counter-suits between…
Understanding The Questions Asked At The “Bad Patents” Hearing
by Josh Landau • • 2 Comments
The recent House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on the Impact of Bad Patents on American Businesses addressed many of the points I made last week. But it also highlighted a few issues where there’s some dispute or simply a lack of understanding. In particular, I think that the hearing’s focus on the (1) “broadest reasonable interpretation”…
Comments to the USPTO on AIA Trial Procedures
by Josh Landau • • 1 Comment
On July 6, the Computer and Communications Industry Association submitted comments on America Invents Act (AIA) trial procedures in response to the PTO’s ongoing request for such feedback, most recently at the PTAB Judicial Conference in June. Our comments, briefly summarized, are that: The inter partes review (IPR) procedure has been successful in providing an…
Bad Patents, Bad Results
by Josh Landau • • 4 Comments
Tomorrow morning, the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet is holding a hearing on “The Impact of Bad Patents on American Businesses.” The impact of bad patents is a topic worth taking some time to examine, because it isn’t just about the direct impact from abusive troll litigation—bad patents…
The “Doubtful Validity” Type Of Case
by Josh Landau • • 1 Comment
“Death squads.” “Hanging judge[s].” A “reign of terror.” “Patent killing fields.” Even if we set aside the questionable taste shown in analogizing the review of patents to genocide, there’s some extremely overwrought rhetoric out there being used to describe the inter partes review (IPR) process. The rhetoric is based on a perception that the Patent…
TC Heartland’s Effects: A Bang Or A Whimper?
by Josh Landau • • 1 Comment
Since tomorrow we’re celebrating Independence Day here in D.C., I thought I’d go back and revisit the Independence From Eastern Texas case, TC Heartland, to see how big of an effect it has really had so far. Are we talking: Or more of a: Prediction And Reality Post-TC Heartland, a number of predictions (including…
International Trade, Not Interrupted Trade—Trolls and the ITC
by Josh Landau • • 1 Comment
You hear a lot about patent litigation in district courts. And, over the past several years, the new inter partes review procedure has seen a lot of attention (including last week’s renewed effort to try to kill off the single most effective tool we have for invalidating bad patents.) You don’t hear that much about…
Leaping Dismissal With A Single Order, It’s FTC v. Qualcomm!
by Josh Landau • • 3 Comments
Monday, Judge Koh issued an order denying Qualcomm’s motion to dismiss in the FTC v. Qualcomm lawsuit. This is just the first step in the lawsuit, but there are some pretty important signals buried in this order. Motions To Dismiss A motion to dismiss is a request, filed by one side or the other and…
IPR Statistics – Success Is Sector Specific
by Josh Landau • • 4 Comments
Yesterday, I published an extensive analysis of Senator Coons’ STRONGER Patents Act. As I said then, the bill would neuter the IPR process, removing any real reason to ever pursue one (assuming you could even file one after the changes to the estoppel, real party in interest, and standing provisions.) One of the reasons I’ve…