Trouble In Patent Troll Paradise?

Recent Supreme Court decisions will likely curb actions by non-practising entities, say Marc J Rachman, and Devin A Kothari.

Patents are the strongest form of IP protection. Indeed, because patents provide strict exclusionary rights, typically for a period of 20 years, patent holders have long been given broad latitude by the courts to protect themselves against infringing competitors. The historically strong position of patentees was further bolstered when, in 1982, Congress established a specialised appeals court for patent matters, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ("Federal Circuit"). Indeed, soon after its establishment, the Federal Circuit issued several pro-patentee decisions that expanded the range of patentable inventions and made it more difficult to invalidate issued patents.