Patent Owners in the Soup... No Injunction for You!

Some Intellectual Property experts contend that American patent reliability has been in decline for 20 years. They point to the threat of inter partes review, the misuse of march-in rights under the Bayh-Dole Act, the imposition of reasonable or reference price clauses, direct government price-setting, and, most importantly, an inability to obtain an injunction after a finding of infringement. In fact, since the Supreme Court decided eBay v. MercExchange in 2006, injunctions have declined precipitously - some studies have shown as much as a 91% reduction.
Are current patent owners and their licensees taking a risk in believing that their patents will accomplish their raison d’être… affecting the right to exclude? Is it true that patent owners cannot count on their patents to prevent copycat products from entering the market or to allow patent owners or their licensees to charge market prices for their goods? Should injunctive relief be more readily available in patent cases?
This FedSoc forum explored the history of injunctive relief in patent cases and explain the eBay opinion and how it is currently being applied by the trial courts. This program also discussed potential legislative proposals to provide regular access to injunctive relief in order to restore patent reliability.
Featuring:
Prof. Jonathan Barnett, Professor, University of Southern California Gould School of Law
Prof. Thomas Cotter, Taft, Stettinius & Hollister Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School
Nick Matich, Principal, McKool Smith
Hon. Paul Michel, Former Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Moderator: Jeffrey Depp, Policy Consultant, Center for Strategic and International Studies
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As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.