Bloomberg Law: Lawmakers Renew Bill to Help Patent Owners Fight Challenges by Malathi Nayak
A bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers are reviving legislation aimed at helping patent owners pursue infringement cases and fight administrative challenges.
Patent owners, including independent inventors and small businesses, have complained that it’s too easy for alleged infringers to challenge patents in administrative proceedings at the agency’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board, known as inter partes reviews. Tech companies such as Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Apple Inc. often go to the PTAB to attack patents that they’re accused of infringing.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) July 10 announced the reintroduction of the Support Technology & Research for Our Nation’s Growth and Economic Resilience (STRONGER) Patents Act. Under the measure, entities that fund a patent validity challenge can’t then file a separate challenge to the same patent, according to a summary of the bill.