Morning Consult Opinion: Federal Judiciary Change Restores Balance in Patent Litigation, Resolves Legislative Controversy, by David Kappos and Hon. Paul Michel
This post originally appeared on Morning Consult on December 3, 2015.
On December 1, new procedural rules adopted by the Judicial Conference of the United States, the national policymaking body of the federal courts, went into effect. These new rules heighten pleading standards and resolve one of the key issues raised in pending patent legislation. We applaud the judiciary for taking action to correct its procedures, curb excesses, and restore a centrist balance in the complex area of patent litigation.
Few innovative companies are surprised to receive occasional patent infringement complaints. They are a fact of life in our highly interdependent world, where each new idea builds on many others preceding it. However, what does often surprise recipients of patent infringement complaints is the vagueness of some of the charges filed against them, and the ability of nebulous pleadings to survive summary dismissal that otherwise should serve as a legitimacy filter for the courts.