Patent Litigants, Patent Quality, and Software: Lessons from the Smartphone Wars

68 Pages Posted: 3 May 2014

See all articles by Ronald A. Cass

Ronald A. Cass

Center for the Rule of Law; Cass & Associates, PC; Boston University School of Law; George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty

Date Written: April 18, 2014

Abstract

Commentators, public officials, and scholars have sounded alarms over the smartphone patent wars — hundreds of cases asserting infringement of patents by makers of smartphones and tablet computers — often suggesting broad, categorical “fixes” to problems this litigation reveals. In general, these recommendations sweep too broadly, throwing out good claims as well as bad and needed remedies as well as questionable ones. However, calls for attention along two margins promise improvements. One factor, the identity of the enterprise asserting patent rights, already is being used by courts in considering appropriate patent infringement remedies but its use needs to be refined. The other factor, patent quality — especially in software patents, where the existence of parallel schemes of intellectual property protection exacerbates quality problems — is even more critical to the way the system operates. Addressing the patent quality issue (which is distinct from patent clarity or patent notice) can do more than other reforms to reduce costs without reducing innovation incentives.

Keywords: patents, software, smartphones, intellectual property, litigation, patent assertion entities

JEL Classification: K20, K29, K39, K41, K42, O34

Suggested Citation

Cass, Ronald A., Patent Litigants, Patent Quality, and Software: Lessons from the Smartphone Wars (April 18, 2014). Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology, Vol. 16, No. 1, 2015 Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2431285

Ronald A. Cass (Contact Author)

Center for the Rule of Law ( email )

9907 Georgetown Pike
Suite 148
Great Falls, VA 22066
United States
703-438-8832 (Phone)

Cass & Associates, PC ( email )

10560 Fox Forest Drive
Great Falls, VA 22066
United States
703-438-7590 (Phone)
703-438-7591 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.cassassociates.net

Boston University School of Law ( email )

765 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
United States

George Mason University - Antonin Scalia Law School, Faculty

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
240
Abstract Views
1,617
Rank
231,674
PlumX Metrics