3 ms·
"The first thing to fix is the economic incentive: when you lose a trial due to invalid or non-infringed patent, you have to be the one footing the bill." What
by iamshs 13y ago
"The first thing to fix is the economic incentive: when you lose a trial due to invalid or non-infringed patent, you have to be the one footing the bill."
What happens when a small inventor files for a patent dispute, and still loses due to financial muscle of the big company? This clause will just act as a deterrent for me to sue "Google/Apple" because I cannot afford to lose. They will bury me in debt if I go head against them.
- Kliment 13y agoIf you can afford a patent, you aren't a small inventor. Small inventors are entirely excluded from the patent game, because they cannot afford to enforce. This has been the case for nearly two decades. If you're not convinced, it could be "either pay the costs or lose the patent".
- jessaustin 13y agoIs it common for small inventors to sue big companies for infringement? Do they ever win? Even if it happens once in a great while, it's still probably not rational for most small inventors to take on big companies, even today. This is another flaw of the current arrangement. Besides, you don't have to make the escrow amount arbitrarily large. If I can only afford to spend $10k on a particular patent infringement lawsuit, I'll just have to put half of that in escrow and spend the other half on my necessarily limited case. The defense can spend what they want, but they'll only be reimbursed from what's in escrow, and only if they prevail. This would be an additional burden for plaintiffs, but it wouldn't qualitatively change their decision-making process.