Our Founders Would Abhor What The USPTO Is Doing With The Patent System - Above the Law

"Last week I wrote about how the US Patent and Trademark Office is pushing a rule change that would effectively neuter the inter partes review (IPR) system that reviews already granted patents to make sure they weren't granted by mistake. Patent tolls and other abusers of the patent system have been screaming about this system ever since it started actually helping stop the flood of patent trolling over the last decade and a half."

"The Copia Institute is the think tank arm of Floor64, Inc., the privately-held California small business behind Techdirt.com. As a think tank the Copia Institute produces evidence-driven articles and papers as well as other forms of expressive output such as podcasts and games that examine the nuances and assumptions underpinning technology policy. Armed with its insights it then regularly submits advocacy instruments such as amicus briefs and regulatory comments, such as this one."

The USPTO is proposing rule changes that would substantially weaken the inter partes review (IPR) mechanism that evaluates already granted patents for errors. The proposed changes would oppose the reason and intent of the patent system and could damage American innovation. The current IPR system has helped stop poor-quality patents from limiting innovation and reducing patent trolling over the last decade and a half. The Copia Institute, affiliated with Floor64, Inc., opposes the rule changes and emphasizes that such sweeping alterations to patent adjudication should be made only by Congress, not by agency rulemaking.

Read at Above the Law