The Apple of Their Eye?
According to PatentFreedom, a study commissioned by Apple, there are more than 250 active Patent Assertion Entities (“PAEs,” also known as “patent trolls”) in the United States. The study estimated that 43% of the defendants in patent cases had been sued by PAEs. Apple claims that it is one of the top targets of PAEs. In the past three years, Apple has litigated against PAEs 92 times; in 51 of those cases, Apple paid to settle the claims. According to Apple, these settlements were all “for business purposes.” In addition to these lawsuits, Apple has another 228 patent assertion cases that have not yet been resolved.
Apple – and other companies – is taking the fight to the United States Supreme Court. In a recent amicus brief, Apple has asked the Supreme Court to make it clear to district courts that attorneys’ fees can be awarded to the defendant in exceptional cases. Apple has proposed that district courts analyze: 1) the nature and motivations of the parties to the litigation, 2) the merits of the parties’ positions, and 3) the parties’ conduct both before and during litigation.
According to Apple, a fee-shifting approach would “encourage more thorough pre-assertion investigations and discourage weak claims. It would embolden operating companies to challenge frivolous claims in court instead of capitulating in terrorem. And it would keep those PAEs that contribute nothing to the patent market from taxing the returns of innovators.” Such a change would also likely dramatically decrease the number of lawsuits against Apple and other top companies.
Sources: http://my.chicagotribune.com/#section/545/article/p2p-79215966/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/02/apple-top-target-of-patent-trolls-faced-92-lawsuits-in-three-years/ http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publications/supreme_court_preview/briefs-v3/12-1163-12-1184_np_amcu_apple.authcheckdam.pdf
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