CCIA to Supreme Court: Free Innovators From Junk Patents

File Under: 2006, Copyright

Oct 4, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, D.C. - As the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the patent case  MedImmune v. Genentech today, the Computer & Communications Industry Association called for the nation’s high court to reverse a decision of the patent-specializing U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which has tied the hands of innovators who must contend with junk patents.

This phenomena contributes to a trend in which the patent system, intended to incentivize innovation, is actually retarding innovation by increasing the costs of litigation, uncertainty, and risk," said CCIA President and CEO Ed Black. "The Federal Circuit’s  MedImmune decision keeps junk patents alive and kicking. We call o­n the Supreme Court to change that."

In MedImmune(05-608), the Federal Circuit threw out MedImmune’s challenge to the validity of a patent that MedImmune was then licensing. As a licensee, the Federal Circuit reasoned, MedImmune did not present a "case or controversy" and therefore did not have standing to ask a court if the patent was valid. The result is that a licensee of a junk patent must now break the agreement before it can ask a court to invalidate the patent. Because breaking the license agreement means expensive, high-stakes litigation, the MedImmunedecision increases risk, and uncertainty for innovators, benefiting o­nly patent lawyers and patent trolls. Unless the Supreme Court reverses MedImmune, more junk patents will go unchallenged because licensees are afraid to bet the company o­n arcane and unpredictable aspects of patent law.

Contact: Will Rodger, 202-783-0070 ext. 105