For those following Patent Law....

SweetT · 10-29-2003

My General Counsel (Matt, which most of you know) follows this stuff pretty closely and he sent me this that was released today:

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1067350952811

Even though this is not law and may be too late to do any good for those fighting ACACIA, it is still good information.

In a nutshell, the FTC is asking Congress to enact a law to change Patent Litigation to allow it to be *easier* to prove a patent is invalid. Currently it has to be "clear and convincing evidence" (which, according to Matt, is just slightly below "beyond a reasonable doubt") to "a preponderance of the evidence" (which, accordiing to Matt, is more like a civil case where it can be 51%).

This could be huge if it continues down this road...but the Justice Department is doing it's own research and will weigh in soon and then it will have to go before Congress who may, or may not, act on it.

I just thought I would present this to all who were curious, with the normal disclaimers: I am not an attorney. I do not play one on TV. Matt is not a Patent Specialist, but plays an OBGYN on TV. Void where prohibited by law. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery.

--T

10-29-2003	#1
SweetT Members Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 236	My General Counsel (Matt, which most of you know) follows this stuff pretty closely and he sent me this that was released today: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1067350952811 Even though this is not law and may be too late to do any good for those fighting ACACIA, it is still good information. In a nutshell, the FTC is asking Congress to enact a law to change Patent Litigation to allow it to be easier to prove a patent is invalid. Currently it has to be "clear and convincing evidence" (which, according to Matt, is just slightly below "beyond a reasonable doubt") to "a preponderance of the evidence" (which, accordiing to Matt, is more like a civil case where it can be 51%). This could be huge if it continues down this road...but the Justice Department is doing it's own research and will weigh in soon and then it will have to go before Congress who may, or may not, act on it. I just thought I would present this to all who were curious, with the normal disclaimers: I am not an attorney. I do not play one on TV. Matt is not a Patent Specialist, but plays an OBGYN on TV. Void where prohibited by law. Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery. --T __________________