Today, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the United States Patent and Trademark Office's “inter partes review” process in Oil States v. Greene’s Energy. Public Knowledge, joined by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Engine Advocacy, and R Street Institute, filed an amicus brief in this case in 2017.
The following can be attributed to John Bergmayer, Senior Counsel at Public Knowledge:
“In upholding the ‘inter partes review’ process, the Supreme Court has rightly rejected the idea that a patent that was mistakenly granted cannot be rescinded without a laborious judicial procedure.
“Had this case gone the other way, not only would the courts be clogged up with disputes that can be resolved more reasonably by the patent office itself, the holders of invalid patents would be able to more easily collect windfall payments for ‘inventions’ that don't really exist — with consumers ultimately paying the costs.
“Going forward, parties who are concerned with the inter partes review process should encourage the patent office to grant fewer erroneous patents to begin with.”
You may view our amicus brief here.
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