Patent practitioners say that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s recent decision that whistleblowers have standing to sue companies that falsely label their products as covered by patents probably won’t save cases that are filed based on the bare fact that products contain false markings.
The Federal Circuit’s Aug. 31 unanimous panel ruling in Stauffer v. Brooks Brothers Inc. reversed a Southern District of New York decision that Raymond Stauffer, a pro se litigant and patent attorney in Chatham, N.J., did not have standing to sue Brooks Brothers for making adjustable bow ties that are marked with expired patent numbers.
