Seattle Partner Mauricio Uribe was quoted in “Patent Owners Face Tougher Playing Field as Obama Exits,” an article published in Law360.
Excerpt: As President Barack Obama’s signature accomplishment in the intellectual property realm, the AIA has created a system for accused infringers to challenge the validity of patents out of court that proponents say has strengthened the overall quality of patents and provided a cost-effective way to resolve claims without prolonged litigation.
But the law, signed in September 2011, also has been criticized for its potential to create barriers for entrepreneurs and small businesses to obtain and assert patents, tilting the playing field in favor of multinational corporations. The full effects won’t be known for years, when the patents that survive the AIA proceedings have been tested in litigation, leaving the final chapter in Obama’s IP legacy still unwritten. The impact of the law on allegedly frivolous litigation also is up in the air, with early numbers showing the effect has been limited.
But one thing is certain: Obama is set to leave behind a much stricter and expensive patent system for inventors than the one in place when he took office in 2009. And while his successor has said precious little about his plans for IP reform, industry observers say they expect much of the AIA to remain intact, and for President-elect Donald Trump to build on Obama’s practice of selecting corporate heavyweights for IP administration posts.
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