PREDATORY INFRINGEMENT

Efficient infringement is a cold-hearted business calculation whereby businesses decide it will be cheaper to steal patented technology than to license it.

By Adam Mossoff & Bhamati Viswanathan In a recent New York Times op-ed, “The Patent Troll Smokescreen,” Joe Nocera used in print for the first time the term, “efficient infringement.” This pithy phrase quickly gained currency if only because it captures a well-known phenomenon that has been i

Last week the Federal Circuit issued an important decision that might be easy to overlook. In Intellectual Ventures I LLC v. Capital One Financial Corporation, the Federal Circuit dodged the antitrust question presented by finding that a prior ruling had collateral estoppel effect.

By Adam Mossoff & Bhamati Viswanathan In a recent New York Times op-ed, “The Patent Troll Smokescreen,” Joe Nocera used in print for the first time the term, “efficient infringement.” This pithy phrase quickly gained currency if only because it captures a well-known phenomenon that has been i

This paper shows that the Framers empowering Congress to act by “securing for limited Times to…Inventors the exclusive Right to their…Discoveries” understood th

In the U.S., large tech companies regularly infringe on smaller companies’ intellectual property (IP). Often, this has led to large court settlements that punish larger companies. But, this enforcement mechanism has been weakened. In 2011, Congress created a tribunal within the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office called the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), which has created a new avenue for major tech companies to challenge IP protections. New legislation would further enable this attack on IP protections, and ultimately harm the U.S. economy as a whole.

In a Banana Republic the Elites rule over a servile government that abets and supports, for kickbacks and bribes, the exploitation of the rest of society. Instead of Dole and United Fruit controlling Honduras, we now have Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google and other tech giants controlling Congress and the Executive...

Last week the Federal Circuit issued an important decision that might be easy to overlook. In Intellectual Ventures I LLC v. Capital One Financial Corporation, the Federal Circuit dodged the antitrust question presented by finding that a prior ruling had collateral estoppel effect.

Simply put, Big Tech benefits from stealing IP. The legal costs and potential damages, if ever issued after years of litigation, are paltry by comparison.