Congress needs to reform a quasi-judicial tribunal that Massive Tech corporations have weaponized to assault their smaller rivals. These Massive Tech corporations are rightfully nervous that the reform laws will stop them from stealing smaller firms’ applied sciences with out compensation after which exhausting the smaller corporations with unending authorized challenges on the tribunal.
Congress created the Patent Trial and Attraction Board in 2011 with good intentions. Lawmakers hoped it will be a sooner, cheaper discussion board to resolve disputes about patent validity in comparison with the federal courts.
Sadly, Massive Tech firms virtually instantly weaponized the tribunal. After infringing the patents of less-established rivals, tech giants repeatedly problem the underlying validity of these patents on the PTAB—whereas on the identical time making the identical challenges in federal court docket. They do that to put on down small inventors, who often lack the sources to defend their IP in opposition to an onslaught of parallel and repetitive challenges.
To repair this downside, Congress has launched a bipartisan invoice referred to as the PREVAIL Act, which might crack down on abusive patent challenges and ban duplicative litigation on the PTAB and in federal court docket.
Opponents declare that PREVAIL will in some way elevate drug costs by making it simpler to defend pharmaceutical patents and block the introduction of cheaper generics. However given how few drug patents are challenged in any respect on the PTAB, it’s clear this argument is a stalking horse for Massive Tech’s actual considerations concerning the invoice. In addition to, PREVAIL doesn’t stop any protection in opposition to a patent—it simply prevents the identical protection from being made a number of occasions, which solely serves to empty sources and weaken professional patents.
Clearly, Massive Tech lobbyists can’t advance a principled foundation to defend mental property theft. “Allow us to hold stealing, it’s nice!” is hardly a profitable argument. So, as an alternative, they’re attempting to discredit the reform invoice by arguing that it’ll result in larger prescription drug prices.
Happily, new information from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Workplace, which we each beforehand ran below Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, debunks this fable. From September 2012 to March 2024, solely 3% of all challenges on the tribunal concerned patents overlaying brand-name prescription drugs. And simply 2% of challenges concerned patents for biologic medicine.
Merely put, the PTAB isn’t a major battleground for drug patents. The overwhelming majority of PTAB challenges contain electronics and pc expertise. Robust patents catalyze innovation throughout just about all high-tech industries. Lawmakers can’t enable falsehoods to sink PREVAIL. Passing this laws is essential to make sure the U.S. stays aggressive in areas like synthetic intelligence, quantum computing, and engineering. Startups and small corporations are sometimes on the forefront of creating such applied sciences, however they’ll by no means succeed if company behemoths can plunder their concepts and bully them with repetitive litigation once they combat again.
If we let the U.S. patent system deteriorate, we threat relinquishing our place as a worldwide technological chief, endangering U.S. financial competitiveness and nationwide safety.
PREVAIL would create a degree taking part in discipline the place small companies have a preventing likelihood in opposition to established business giants. To defend our geopolitical standing and financial prosperity, Congress ought to move it instantly—and ignore false and deceptive speaking factors.
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