‘Alarmist reaction’ could gut US patent system, academics warn
A group of US academics has expressed concerns that an “alarmist reaction” to the alleged impact that non-practising-entities (NPEs) have had on US businesses threatens to “gut” the country’s patent system.
In a letter sent to Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and other politicians involved in the patent reform debate, the group has responded to “deeply flawed” evidence submitted by another group of academics to Congress on March 2.
The other group, which included representatives of Harvard and Stanford, had claimed NPEs are responsible for the majority of US patent infringement cases.
In the latest letter (dated March 10), sent by 41 academics from institutions including the University of California, Berkeley and George Washington University Law School, the signatories said they have “deep concerns with many flawed, unreliable, or incomplete studies” about the US patent system that have been provided to members of Congress.
The group is critical of studies cited by the previous academics that claimed to show how NPEs are particularly harmful to start-up companies and have forced companies across the US to reduce research and development funding.
In the latest letter, the academics said they fear that those studies may contribute to politicians introducing “broad and sweeping” legislation that goes “beyond what is needed to curb abusive litigation practices, causing unintended negative consequences for inventors, small businesses and emerging entrepreneurs”.
Their letter said: “Those bent on attacking ‘trolls’ have engendered an alarmist reaction that threatens to gut the patent system ... We are very concerned that reliance on flawed data will lead to legislation that goes well beyond what is needed to curb abusive litigation practices.”
The group also cited studies published in academic journals which, they believe, are more reliable indicators of the impact of NPEs on US businesses.
“Unreliable studies with highly exaggerated claims regarding patent trolls have stolen the spotlight after being heavily promoted by well-organised proponents of sweeping patent legislation,” the academics added.
Bob Goodlatte did not respond to a request for comment on the letters.
