Summary
Google, Cisco Systems Inc. and other technology firms are not happy that the U.S. Supreme court has refused to hear a seemingly obscure case involving disputes over the patent of one type of vehicle drive shaft. Neither company is formally involved in the case, but they say they need a decision so they can know how to handle potential disputes among 1,400 inventions they themselves have patented.
Original source:
http://news.com.com/Google%2C+Cisco+fail+to+win+patent+reform+bid/2100-1030_3-5542214.html?tag=nefd.top
Details
- Google and Cisco Systems aren't too happy about the U.S. Supreme Court's decision this week in a lawsuit over vehicle drive shafts of a certain very specific size.
- The justices on Tuesday refused to hear a hotly contested patent case involving drive shafts of "substantially uniform wall thickness" that pitted American Axle and Manufacturing against Dana Corp.
- While the two Silicon Valley firms may have little interest in the mechanics of drive shaft manufacturing, they share a keen interest in the mechanics of patent laws.
- In a legal brief urging the justices to take up the case, the companies say they hold more than 1,400 patents and want to promote a patent system with a reasonable "balance" among inventors, users and follow-on improvers.
- The two firms are worried about what they view as a disturbing trend in which appeals courts second-guess trial judges regarding whether a patent is valid.
- In that process, ending in what's called a "Markman" hearing (named after a 1996 Supreme Court case), both sides present detailed evidence to a trial judge about the scope of the patent and its history.
- Nowadays, the companies argue, the Federal Circuit reverses trial judges more than one-third of the time--resulting in less incentive for companies to settle suits early, aggressive defenses of clear cases of infringement and pursuit of questionable cases.
- Permitting this trend to continue, they say in a brief written by Stanford law professor Mark Lemley, creates legal uncertainty and "prolonged and wasteful litigation rather than innovation."
- In the current case, Dana sued American Axle, alleging that its drive shafts had a thickened end tube, in violation of Dana's patents.
- Open source panelists tout business models, pan patents (InfoWorld) from Yahoo!
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