The Supreme Court decided TC Heartland v. Kraft on Monday. The decision addresses a procedural point with huge effects on patent litigation. The Problem The basic problem before this case was that it was very easy to pick the court you wanted to sue someone in; it’s called “forum shopping.” And (if you’re a…
Tag Archive for small business
“Efficient Infringement” Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means
by Matt Levy •
Patent reform opponents have been arguing that companies make a deliberate calculation and decide to infringe patents. Not only is this not true, but the argument is a subtle way of pushing for what opponents of reform really want.
Vermont Targets A Bottom-Feeding Patent Troll, But It Can’t Do The Job Alone
by Matt Levy •
There should be a rule of thumb for patent trolls: don’t target the disabled. You ignore this rule at your peril. Notorious patent troll MPHJ did, and now it’s just been sued by the Vermont Attorney General for violating the Vermont Consumer Protection Act. MPHJ, and its 40 or so shell companies, goes around threatening…
Startup DITTO Selling T-Shirts to Defend Against Patent Suit
by Matt Levy •
EFF recently wrote about a startup called DITTO that sells eyewear online using a technology it developed to let people see how the glasses would look on them using a webcam. DITTO is being sued by 1-800-CONTACTS for patent infringement. It has also been sued by a PAE in the Eastern District of Texas. To…
The End-Users Strike Back
by David Balto •
As Josh Lamel noted the other day, end-users such as retailers, financial services, grocery stores, advertising, hotel industries, and even oil companies are coming out in droves to fight abusive patent troll tactics. The FTC has posted all 68 public comments submitted to its patent assertion entity workshop; a surprising number come from end-users. Patent…
Five Employees, Six Lawyers: The Problem with Software Patents
by Tim Sparapani •
It’s the tech startup dream: coming up with a great idea, raising funding to make it a reality, gaining users, hiring a first, second, and third employee. Hiring just as many lawyers. When a startup has more attorneys than staff, something is wrong. But one startup founder, who chooses to remain anonymous, just hired his…
Guest Post: Patent Trolls Stifle Innovation
by Alan Schoenbaum •
Over the last several months, we have been vocal in our calls for software patent reform to put an end to the threat of lawsuits on behalf of patent assertion entities (PAEs), more commonly known as patent trolls. Why? Because at Rackspace it has become our most pressing legal issue. Since 2010, our spending to…
Patent Troll Panel Important for Competition Policy
by David Balto •
CCIA is hosting an important event on Thursday, February 28th entitled “How Patent Trolls are Harming Innovation.” The event will take place in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, and will feature six prominent panelist offering different but harmonious opinions on the current state of the patent troll environment: Julie Samuels, Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid…
Entrepreneurs to Congress: Fix the Patent Troll Problem
by Josh Lamel •
Today, more than 60 entrepreneurs wrote to Congress demanding Congress do something about the growing threat patent assertion entities are creating for the startup community. Led by Engine Advocacy and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, these entrepreneurs are joining CCIA in supporting the reintroduction of the SHIELD Act by Representatives DeFazio and Chaffetz today. The text…
Not Just A Big Business Problem: Patent Trolls Harm Startups, Small Businesses
by Josh Lamel •
As Patent Progress reported in this post, Friday afternoon President Obama came out strong against patent trolls, saying, They’re just trying to essentially leverage and hijack somebody else’s idea and see if they can extort some money out of them. Unfortunately, some patent troll defenders responded with a personal attack on the President as doing…