Netflix Inc. is generating a ground swell of support from major technology and Internet companies in its bid to change the standard for awarding attorneys’ fees in patent cases.
The company, which rents videos to subscribers, petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in July to hold an en banc hearing on the issue. Five Internet retailers have filed an amicus brief, and seven technology companies asked the court for permission to file a brief in Media Queue v. Netflix . The groups have said that it’s too hard for defendants to recoup attorneys’ fees when they’re hit with frivolous lawsuits. Plaintiffs can bring weak or overreaching patent infringement cases without any downside, and there are very few ways for companies to prevent them, says John Vandenberg, an intellectual property litigation partner at Portland, Oregon’s Klarquist Sparkman.
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