The Coalition for Patent Fairness, a group representing tech companies such as Intel, Cisco, Apple, Microsoft and others, has recently steered a favorable bill through the House and the Senate Judiciary committee. At the nexus of the bill is a provision limiting damages for patent infringements not to the entire product, but rather to the component in question.
This provision is advantageous to tech firms, who are frequently defendants in infringement suits and would like to keep damages as low as possible. Tech products frequently have thousands of patented parts, and if a manufacturer impinges on one of those patents, the damages for the component would be a fraction of those for the entire product .
On the opposing side of this dispute are the pharmaceutical companies. At the moment, the penalty for infringement can go well beyond the economic impact of the invention itself. This is advantageous for the drug companies, who are often plaintiffs in patent lawsuits and seek to maximize the deterrent for copying of their patents.
So far, it appears that the tech companies have the upper hand. Stay tuned for more information as this dispute develops.
This provision is advantageous to tech firms, who are frequently defendants in infringement suits and would like to keep damages as low as possible. Tech products frequently have thousands of patented parts, and if a manufacturer impinges on one of those patents, the damages for the component would be a fraction of those for the entire product .
On the opposing side of this dispute are the pharmaceutical companies. At the moment, the penalty for infringement can go well beyond the economic impact of the invention itself. This is advantageous for the drug companies, who are often plaintiffs in patent lawsuits and seek to maximize the deterrent for copying of their patents.
So far, it appears that the tech companies have the upper hand. Stay tuned for more information as this dispute develops.
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