Top Google lawyer calls for U.S. patent reforms

A Google emblem is viewed outdoors of the Google Keep, where by visitors can test phones and other merchandise from the business, in New York Town, New York, U.S., February 10, 2022. Photo taken February 10, 2022. REUTERS/Paresh Dave

April 28 – Google’s general counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado in a business weblog put up Thursday called for revamping the American patent process, sounding alarms in excess of what she named a decline in the excellent of U.S. patents and a increase in “shakedown campaigns” by so-called patent trolls.

DeLaine Prado instructed Reuters the patent procedure has “traditionally been a location where the advancement of progress and technological know-how for the gain of the general public is encouraged,” introducing, “we sense that we dropped our way lately on that.”

Her post reported Alphabet Inc’s Google supports a monthly bill in Congress to broaden an administrative approach for tough patent validity at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Business office recognised as inter partes evaluation. The IPR procedure is an choice to conventional patent litigation that is usually well known with huge tech businesses and other recurrent targets of patent lawsuits.

Google faced much more patent-infringement conditions in the United States than any other enterprise in 2020, according to a Lex Machina report.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas introduced a bill very last calendar year to “restore” IPR, following adjustments underneath the Trump Administration led to the board examining fewer patents.

Leahy has said the invoice would assistance discourage “undesirable actors” like alleged trolls that make their dollars suing or threatening to sue in excess of low-high quality patents.

Michelle Lee, a previous senior Google lawyer, headed the PTO from 2015 to 2017, and some criticized the company for invalidating way too quite a few patents through the IPR system during her tenure.

DeLaine Prado mentioned the PTO under its new director need to acquire a lot more methods to guarantee it difficulties higher-quality patents, and she advocated for larger filing service fees for the largest patent filers, which includes Google.

The U.S. Senate verified Kathi Vidal, a Silicon Valley-primarily based lover at regulation agency Winston & Strawn, to head the PTO before this thirty day period. DeLaine Prado instructed Reuters she was “seriously hopeful” about the prospect of doing the job with Vidal on “some of the reforms that we’re contacting for.”

The blog post also backed a force to cut down what DeLaine Prado called “abusive forum-procuring” in patent-infringement conditions, citing a contact by the ranking members of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s intellectual home subcommittee to deal with the “serious concentration” of situations in U.S. District Choose Alan Albright’s Waco, Texas court.

Critics say Albright’s guidelines appeal to patent trolls and that he has inappropriately solicited plaintiffs to convey scenarios in his courtroom. Albright has defended his method, but U.S. Supreme Court docket Chief Justice John Roberts cited issues about Waco when he reported in January that he would overview patent location policies.

DeLaine Prado’s weblog submit mentioned that the situation had gotten “out of hand.”

(Notice: The story has been up to date to mirror Halimah DeLaine Prado’s final identify as “DeLaine Prado” in its place of “Prado”.)

Go through a lot more:

Senators Leahy, Cornyn introduce invoice to ‘restore’ PTAB overview system

U.S. Chief Justice Roberts pledges to review patent location regulations

Biden pick Vidal confirmed for empowered patent and trademark main role

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