Individual inventor comments on patent reform
Comment by an individual inventor to article by Michael Kanellos-->
I read with interest your article on patent reform. I hold 8 U.S. patents as an individual and would like to provide some insight to why a patent is sometimes enforced when the patent holder does not produce a commercial product based on the patent.
When an individual (or even a small business) holds a patent that is being infringed upon by a large corporation, the cost of enforcement is often more than the small patent holder can afford. Sure there are plenty of contingency lawyers, and some of them are good, but the small patent holder is still responsible for out-of-pocket expenses that could run $1 million or more. The cost of an expert witness is very high.
An alternate is for the small patent holder to negotiate a licensing and enforcement program with a patent enforcement house. In this context, the enforcement house takes on considerable risks. There is no guarantee that the patent will withstand challenge, or that prior art will not be discovered (despite enormous prior-art searching, there is still that possibility). It is time and resource intensive, and requires significant financial backing to ensure the licensing program will be successful.
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This is relevant to the mounting opposition to H.R. 2795.
I read with interest your article on patent reform. I hold 8 U.S. patents as an individual and would like to provide some insight to why a patent is sometimes enforced when the patent holder does not produce a commercial product based on the patent.
When an individual (or even a small business) holds a patent that is being infringed upon by a large corporation, the cost of enforcement is often more than the small patent holder can afford. Sure there are plenty of contingency lawyers, and some of them are good, but the small patent holder is still responsible for out-of-pocket expenses that could run $1 million or more. The cost of an expert witness is very high.
An alternate is for the small patent holder to negotiate a licensing and enforcement program with a patent enforcement house. In this context, the enforcement house takes on considerable risks. There is no guarantee that the patent will withstand challenge, or that prior art will not be discovered (despite enormous prior-art searching, there is still that possibility). It is time and resource intensive, and requires significant financial backing to ensure the licensing program will be successful.
****
This is relevant to the mounting opposition to H.R. 2795.
posted by Lawrence B. Ebert at 6:49 PM
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