Friday, October 7, 2016

FTC Study on Patent Assertion

An Oct. 6, 2016 FTC press release  reveals that the report examining "the business practices of patent assertion entities (PAEs), firms that acquire patents from third parties and then try to make money by licensing or suing accused infringers" is now published. Entitled Patent Assertion Entity Activity: An FTC Study, the report includes recommendations for patent litigation reforms.

How are patent lawyers reacting to this report? One example has been provided by Michael Risch, Professor of Law at Villanova University. Risch wrote a blog article, The Long Awaited FTC Study on Patent Assertion and Nuisance Litigation, discussing the report using terms a layman can understand. Risch also states, "A scan of the footnotes alone will make a great literature review for anyone new to this area..."