Petitions Supreme Court to Address Administrative Over-Reach
SAN JOSE, California – May 2, 2016 – In the most recent round of a landmark battle to protect the intellectual property rights of its customer, MCM Portfolio LLC, Alliacense today petitioned the Supreme Court of the United States to determine the constitutionality of provisions of the America Invents Act (“AIA”) that unconstitutionally authorize the trial of a patent’s validity in the USPTO, in violation of a patent owner’s right to have the validity of its patents tried in an court of law and to a jury.
The petition, filed by top Supreme Court specialist Thomas Goldstein of Goldstein & Russell, P.C., and Alliacense Chief Patent Counsel Edward Heller, targets a procedure known as Inter Partes Review (“IPR”) whereby accused infringers use a highly politicized administrative system to invalidate patents twice as often as when properly tried in a court of law. American inventors and their investors are being stripped of their property rights at an alarming rate, without being given their day in court.
The administrative over-reach of the IPR procedure has fundamentally changed the US patent system, and is inflicting remarkable, long-term damage to the US economy. The result has been to encourage and embolden rampant patent piracy (especially by large technology lobbyists who are not deterred by the AIA’s higher costs), and thus to discourage investment in the American innovation economy.
The patent involved in the case, US 7,162,549, is part of the CORE Flash™ Portfolio of patents, which covers seminal inventions in the management and control of flash card media. Prior to Hewlett-Packard’s filing of the IPR in 2013, the US’549 patent had survived multiple challenges to its validity in the US District Courts and the International Trade Commission. Over 50 CORE Flash licensees worldwide have purchased licenses to utilize CORE Flash innovations in a high-volume, diverse range of products that rely on flash card media, such as: digital cameras and TVs, PCs, printers, game consoles, digital picture frames, and more.
Click here to read the Petition. To find out how to support the IPR challenge, contact Ned Heller at Alliacense (ned@alliacense.com).
Above news is also covered on the Patently‑O : Pending Supreme Court Patent Cases 2016 (May 3 Update)
About Alliacense
Alliacense is the recognized leader in the design and execution of Intellectual Property (IP) development and licensing. As a cadre of IP licensing strategists, technology experts, and experienced business development/management executives, Alliacense focuses on expanding the awareness and value of IP portfolios its under management, and providing a peerless array of capabilities that enhance the effectiveness of IP. For more information, visit www.alliacense.com.
About the CORE Flash Portfolio Licensing Program
CORE Flash innovations are protected in dozens of patents and applications around the world, and protect key aspects of flash memory management and control, including software, firmware, hardware, and mechanical designs. Over forty computer and consumer product companies have licensed CORE Flash technology to enhance their products. For more information, visit the CORE Flash Licensing Program page.