***A MUST READ - Patent Infringement Litigation Process***
This is for those who know nothing about the patent infringement litigation process and for those pc lawyers (aka bar stool lawyers) that think they know what they are talking about.
A few of you are spot on in what you are talking about; most of the other's; not so much!!
Read the whole booklet. Below are a couple of key points from it...
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Although patent litigation trials take place in federal district courts, it is commonplace for defendants in patent lawsuits to also initiate parallel proceedings in the USPTO, challenging the validity of the asserted patents. These are generally referred to as “post-grant” proceedings because they take place in the USPTO after the patent has already been granted.
The most common post-grant proceeding is called inter partes review (IPR) and involves a challenge to the validity of a patent based on patents or printed publications that predate the patent’s filing date. IPRs may be filed by the defendant no later than one year after being served with the patent infringement complaint. A successful IPR can invalidate one or more patent claims. Once an IPR has been completed, it precludes the defendant from continuing to assert in the lawsuit any invalidity defenses that were or could have been brought in the IPR. This is called “estoppel.
”Another common type of litigation-related proceeding is called a covered business method (CBM) patent review. CBM proceedings apply only to “business method” patents and generally allow a broader range of challenges to the validity of the patent. Unlike IPRs, they are not subject to a one-year filing limitation and do not preclude the defendant from using defenses at a later trial that could have been, but were not, asserted in the CBM.
Once an IPR or CBM has been filed, it is common for the defendant to ask the district court to stay (i.e., temporarily halt) the underlying patent suit pending the outcome of the proceeding at the USPTO. By statute, IPRs and CBMs must be completed within 18 months of the challenger’s initial request (with rare exceptions), and because the result of the IPR or CBM may substantially simplify the case, many judges will agree to issue such stays. If the IPR or CBM invalidates all of the asserted patent claims, this effectively ends the lawsuit.
Other types of post-grant proceedings available at the USPTO include post-grant review, ex parte reexamination, supplemental examination, and derivation proceedings. However, these are rarely used in connection with litigation. The following chart summarizes the differences between the types of post-grant proceedings.
This is where we are right now:
IMPORTANT TO NOTE:
This booklet stated that the judicial process typically takes 1-3 years and a lot of money. Another booklet that explains the appeals process for patent infringement states if appealed, it can take another several years and be very costly!
I put my money on a settlement in the very near future!!
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