News on Patent Law, Reform, and Legislation from AIPR



Something’s Missing from Congressional Hearing on SHIELD Act
March 20 2013

On March 14, representatives from several technology companies (including Cisco Systems, Adobe Systems and SAS) and also retailer J.C. Penney met with members of Congress to lobby for the passage of the “Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes” (SHIELD) Act.

Introduced unsuccessfully last year and recently reintroduced in the House of Representatives, the SHIELD Act is designed to deter non-practicing entities (NPEs) – those companies and individuals who own patents but do not use them to manufacture products – from filing lawsuits against infringers. The way the...

Unified European Patent System Is a Significant Advancement for Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights
December 17 2012

Single EU Patent Will Reduce Costs for Inventors, Businesses and Universities, and Make Patent Enforcement Less Expensive and More Predictable

New York, N.Y. − December 17, 2012 − American Innovators for Patent Reform (AIPR) applauds the recent vote by the European Union to create a single patent system in Europe. This new patent system − which will take effect in January of 2014 if a majority of the EU member country parliaments approve the measure − will make it simpler and less expensive for inventors, small businesses and universities to obtain a single European Patent...

FTC Examines Role of Patent Assertion Entities
December 13 2012

On Monday, December 10, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) conducted the Patent Assertion Entity Activities Workshop at its headquarters in Washington, DC. AIPR Executive Director Alec Schibanoff attended the event. The event was co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The main theme of the workshop was exploring if the activities of “patent assertion entities” (or “PAEs”) have an effect on the products and services that are made available to American consumers, and if patent assertion activities, therefore, limit consumer choices. The term “patent assertion entity” is one...

Forbes - "Patent Lawsuits: The Good, the Bad, and the Frivolous"
November 28 2012

An article published on Forbes.com this week discusses the SHIELD Act (House Bill H.R. 6245), which is designed to dissuade non-practicing entities from filing lawsuits by requiring them to pay the defendants' legal fees in the event that the patent owner loses the lawsuit. AIPR sees this as an attack on patent owners' rights and an attempt to punish small businesses that go after big corporations.

The article, "Patent Lawsuits: The Good, the Bad, and the Frivolous"...

Patent Office Issues Request for Comments on Secrecy Orders, IP Experts Respond
October 23 2012

The United States Patent and Trademark Office publishes patent applications a maximum of eighteen months after the application is filed. The only exception to this practice is when a patent applicant agrees not to seek a non-U.S. patent. But if the patent application relates to certain technologies deemed important to national security, the federal government has the right to place it under a secrecy order.

And since there are still loopholes that can expose patent applications to the public before the patent issues, Congress believes that the program should be expanded to better...

Inventor and Business Owner Challenges the America Invents Act
September 7 2012

An inventor and small business owner named Mark Stadnyk has taken on the America Invents Act (AIA), challenging its constitutionality in federal court in Florida. Specifically, he is concerned (as many small business owners and inventors are) that a switch from first-to-invent to first-to-file will put individual inventors at a distinct disadvantage compared to deep-pocketed corporations.

Stadnyk is the owner of three patents and operates an eight-employee company called MadStad Engineering, Inc. that makes adjustable windshield systems for motorcycles. His story was reported in the...

IP Watchdog - "Here they go again – this time with the Patent SHIELD Act"
August 28 2012

Ron Katznelson, Ph.D., President of Bi-Level Technologies, wrote an insightful op-ed piece for the IP Watchdog blog about the SHIELD Act. He argues that the bill is not only unnecessary, but actively punishes patent holders by creating a "loser pays" system for software and hardware patent litigation.

"The bill has been promoted as a 'balanced' bill, addressing plaintiffs’ and defendants’ issues alike," Katznelson writes. "However, it is no such thing...

TheHill.com - "Proposed SHIELD law is nothing but a gift to infringers"
August 14 2012

AIPR's founder and President, Alexander Poltorak, wrote an op-ed piece for TheHill.com explaining why the SHIELD Act is a gift to infringers and unfairly targets patent owners in the computer and software industries.

Article excerpt: Existing laws that aim to prevent frivolous lawsuits are equally applicable to both parties. But the SHIELD Act unfairly aims to penalize only plaintiffs — in this case, the patent owners. There is no...

Proposed SHIELD Act Is Anti-Innovation and Pro-Monopoly
August 14 2012

SHIELD Act Will Make It Easier for Computer Industry Giants to Infringe Patents and Make it More Difficult for Innovators to Enforce Their IP Rights

New York, N.Y. – August 14, 2012 – American Innovators for Patent Reform (AIPR) is strongly opposed to the “Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes Act of 2012” a.k.a. the SHIELD Act (H.R.6245) that was introduced last week by Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-Oregon) and Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). While the bill claims to “take aim at patent trolls,” AIPR believes it is specifically aimed at American innovators – the...

New White Paper from AIPR and General Patent Corp. on America Invents Act
January 19 2012


American Innovators for Patent Reform has produced a new white paper, “What Innovators Need to Know – and Need to Do – under the America Invents Act” (PDF file). The development of the white paper was sponsored by General Patent Corporation.

Co-authored by patent attorney Carlos A. Fisher of Stout, Uxa, Buyan, & Mullins LLP, and patent attorney Timothy D. Casey and patent...