DC Journal: Small Businesses and Startups Need Stronger Patent Protection by Karen Kerrigan
From a family-owned coffee shop on Main Street with a unique brewing method to a tech startup working out of a garage in Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs across America rely on a key fundamental principle: the ability to protect their creations from theft.
In recent years, a troubling trend has emerged and is becoming a crisis for U.S. innovation: patent protections essential to small businesses and startup companies are degrading. It’s time for Congress to step up and stop the erosion.
In 2011, the America Invents Act created the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to improve the patent litigation system. Some large businesses have since weaponized the PTAB. They’ve been using it to file duplicative, frivolous challenges to patents on technologies that they have taken from smaller rivals. This deep-pocketed war of attrition against smaller competitors wastes precious time and money for no justifiable reason.
In addition, over the past decade, a series of Supreme Court decisions have constricted the standards for patent eligibility in several tech areas. This shifting landscape has left some small businesses uncertain whether they can safeguard their innovations.