For those who hadn’t seen the show “Marriage Ref” one thing that happens to you when you watch is you find yourself quickly trying to identify who you side with. Taking you through a collage of video footage, you hear about a problem in the marriage and watch as celebrities and the host decides who is at fault.
I’m thinking we should set up a “Marriage Ref” between the eastern federal court district of Texas and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). And the problem?
Who’s more to blame for the out of control patent infringement litigation trend? On one side is East Texas’ very own establishing a standard of court decisions that has rewarded the majority patent holders of infringement.
On the other side is the USPTO and what could be seen as a low standard for patents to be given. Although giving the blame to one or the other isn’t as important as dealing with the problem itself. There is a laundry list of reasons that can be given as to why the obvious abuse of patent litigation needs to be stopped.
There is also a pretty good list of what can be done to hinder this. But these two groups stand at opposite ends of the spectrum with potential to put an end to this abuse. At the grass roots the USPTO can raise the standard of issuance of patents to be more clear in its distinction and perhaps concerning the manufacturing of the patent invention.
At the other end, court districts like the ones in East Texas can tweak its standard of what real damage has happened and the amount of compensation. Either way, something needs to be done to get this marriage cleaned up.
