Should I voluntarily bind my company to the results of my competitors’ inter partes review (IPR) proceeding, even though my company is not participating in that proceeding?
This is a question many corporate counsel have found themselves asking as they try to determine how best to defend themselves in patent litigations where a patent owner has asserted the same patent against multiple defendants, a tactic commonly used by patent assertion entities (“PAEs”), referred to by some as “patent trolls.” These cases are often consolidated for the pre-trial stages when they are brought in the same jurisdiction and involve the same patents.
