Tagged: Patent Troll

Attorneys’ Fees, Costs, and an Enhancement! Oh My!

We have previously posted on the judiciary’s attempts to address frivolous and unwarranted suits brought by patent holding, non-practicing entities (“NPEs”). To deter such litigation, courts have the power to award attorneys’ fees and costs to defendants subject to such baseless suits. In an October 23 Opinion and Order in Lumen View Tech., LLC v. Findthebest.com, Inc., District Judge Denise Cote, applying 35 U.S.C. § 285 (“Section 285”), not only awarded the defendant its attorneys’ fees and costs, but also applied an enhancement to the awarded fees.

New Jersey Assembly Advances Bill To Address Bad-Faith Patent Infringement Actions

We have previously posted on proposed federal and state legislation aimed at addressing the toll of “patent troll” litigation by non-practicing entities on the U.S. economy. The Gibbons IP Law Alert has previously posted regarding such issues on August 26, 2014, June 25, 2014, March 10, 2014, and December 13, 2013. Continuing the trend, the New Jersey General Assembly panel recently advanced bill A-2462 to address so called “Patent Troll” litigation. Consistent with other recent efforts at curbing patent litigation abuses, this bill attempts to identify wrongdoers and penalize specific abuses through monetary sanctions.

The ITC and FTC Take Actions to Address the Toll of NPE Litigation

We have previously posted on proposed federal and state legislation aimed at addressing the toll of “patent troll” litigation by non-practicing entities (“NPEs”) on the U.S. economy. Additionally, a recent Federal Circuit ruling relaxing the standard for finding “an exceptional case” to justify attorneys’ fees in patent infringement actions also appears to have been motivated by need to address NPE litigation. Now the United States trade commissions want to enter the fray. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), through its recent decision In the matter of Certain Optical Disc Drives, Components Thereof, and Products Containing the Same, limited the ability of licensing entities, whose patent-related activities are purely revenue driven, to bring actions under 19 U.S.C. § 1337(a)(3). Additionally, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recently been given approval to conduct a study on NPEs to examine how they operate and to what extent they affect competition and innovation.