The latest issue of Pepper Hamilton LLP’s CompetitionNews publication focuses on a March 2011 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report entitled “The Evolving IP Marketplace: Aligning Patent Notice and Remedies with Competition.” The report represents the FTC’s effort to promote competition and innovation by influencing patent policy. As summarized in CompetitionNews, the report:
- encourages the USPTO to apply a higher standard to patent applicants to ensure clarity of claims;
- recommends eliminating the non-publication option for applications filed only in the U.S. – thus ensuring that all patent applications are published;
- recommends various changes to improve the effectiveness of USPTO examiners’ prior art search procedures; and
- suggests that courts limit the factors that they consider when determining a reasonable royalty during patent infringement litigation.
For more information about the report, the latest edition of the Intellectual Property Colloquium podcast includes an interview with the FTC’s Suzanne Michel and William Cohen, who are two of the report’s principal authors. For an interesting discussion — and CLE credit — the podcast is available on the Intellectual Property Colloquium website.
IP Spotlight 