C4IP Co-Chair and former USPTO Director Andrei Iancu recently published an opinion piece in Law360 highlighting the importance of passing the bipartisan RESTORE Patent Rights Act.
This bill, introduced by Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Representatives Nathaniel Moran (R-TX) and Madeleine Dean (D-PA), would reinstate injunctions as the default remedy in patent infringement cases, helping inventors block infringers from selling copied products.
Iancu explains how the act would nullify a 2006 Supreme Court case called eBay Inc. v. MercExchange LLC, which weakened patent protections by abandoning the precedent for injunctions against patent infringers. This decision left the door open for patent piracy of American inventions.
“Over the last two decades, judicial decisions have made it harder for inventors to keep patent-infringing goods off the market. Intellectual property theft costs the U.S. economy as much as $600 billion annually, indirectly aiding geopolitical competitors like China, which is the primary IP infringer,” Iancu states.
“Protecting — and even strengthening — the ITC and passing the RESTORE Patent Rights Act would help ensure inventors get the justice they deserve.”