Professors’ Letter in Support of Patent Reform Legislation

Abstract

This open letter to Congress, signed by 61 professors who teach and write in the area of intellectual property law and policy, supports ongoing efforts to pass patent reform legislation. The letter explains how high litigation costs and a widespread lack of transparency in the patent system make abusive patent enforcement possible and, accordingly, makes six legislative recommendations that if enacted will help reduce the cost of patent litigation and expose abusive practices without degrading inventors’ ability to protect genuine, valuable innovations.

Keywords: patent reform, patent assertion entity, PAE, fee-shifting, e-discovery, customer suit exception, heightened pleading standard, real party in interest, demand letter

JEL Classification: O34, K41