Truth on the Market: Putting the Bite Back in Patents by Alden Abbott
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Feb. 27 joint statement of interest in Collision Communications v. Samsung signals a possible shift back toward the first Trump administration’s “New Madison Approach” to patent policy. That framework—largely abandoned during the Biden administration—treated patents as property rights and defended the central role of injunctions in protecting them.
The filing suggests the current administration may be moving to restore that approach. If so, the implications for patent remedies—and for innovation policy more broadly—could be significant.
A brief look at the economic role of patent injunctions, and at what the Collision Communications statement of interest (CCSOI) actually says, helps explain why. It also raises the possibility that even stronger pro-patent initiatives may soon follow.