Judge Bryson on Inter Partes Reviews (IPRs)

Summary: Tribal immunity is being misused by patent predators -- a serious issue which has come under profound scrutiny; those who profit from extreme litigation, however, hope that such immunity can undermine PTAB altogether

THERE is going to be a hearing today (background here) regarding PTAB and immunity from it. The PTAB bashers have not forgotten and one of them has just said that "PTAB Request Amicus Support for its Decision on Immunity". To quote:

In what appears to be a first, the Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB) has requested briefing from Amacus Curie on the question of whether Tribal Ownership of a patent immunizes the patent from Inter Partes Review (IPR) challenge. The case is Mylan v. Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, IPR2016-01127 et al.

We suppose that the US Congress will put an end to this thing, which many called a "scam" and a US judge recently called a "sham".

"We suppose that the US Congress will put an end to this thing, which many called a "scam" and a US judge recerntly called a "sham"."Meanwhile, Watchtroll keeps attacking (yes, this week also) companies that support PTAB by calling them "efficient infringers" (second time it calls Facebook that). PTAB bashing can also be seen in Twitter. This one jokes that "PTAB admits didnt bother checking claims in original patent decision to see if matched "abstract idea" : https://anticipat.com/research?id=93251 … farce?"

It cites the anti-PTAB Anticipat. What's worth noting is that all the above are proponents of patent trolls. They just cannot stand the idea of quality control or extra hurdles that assure patent quality/justice. We expect that to further intensify in the coming months as they attempt to influence the decision of the Supreme Court.

"What's worth noting is that all the above are proponents of patent trolls."Speaking of PTAB bashing, ITC has earned a lot of negative publicity for disregarding PTAB rulings as though ITC is above the law itsef. It helped Cisco embargo its competition using patents that PTAB had already found to be invalid and there's this new article about it and it says: "In Cisco Systems, Inc. v. ITC, No. 16-2563 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 28, 2017), the Federal Circuit affirmed the Commission’s exclusion order entered in Certain Network Devices, Related Software and Components Thereof (I), Inv. No. 337-TA-944.

"In the 944 investigation, Cisco filed a complaint asserting that Arista infringed five of its patents. ALJ Shaw found that Arista infringed three of the five patents at issue, and the Commission affirmed. Both parties appealed, and the Federal Circuit affirmed the ITC’s determination. The Court agreed with the Commission’s claim construction and concluded that it had made the necessary findings."

"The country needs to foster science and technology, not trolls and scammers."What we then have is the pretense that software patents are "a combination of hardware and software" -- a very common but disingenuous tactic. To quote the closing words: "When an asserted patent covers a combination of hardware and software, the ITC can enter an exclusion order against hardware components imported by a respondent that are specifically designed to be combined with software in the United States."

ITC deserves a serious legitimacy crisis if it continues to refuse to obey/respect PTAB's decisions, leaping to embargoes before justice is done (or after it's done but in defiance of it).

We certainly hope that US politicians and judges (even Justices) will see how absurd a situation it is and who benefits from it. The country needs to foster science and technology, not trolls and scammers. ⬆