Multiple patent reform bills targeting patent trolls, entities that gather patents to enforce with no intent of commercial use, are currently under debate in Congress, but many states are choosing not to wait. On June 2, Gov. Rick Scott signed the “Patent Troll Prevention Act,” making Florida the most recent to surpass the national debate. How effective the new law will prove is questionable though. In fact, it could end up hurting the individuals and businesses it is meant to protect.
Elements of the Act
The Florida law, F.S. §501.991 which is modeled after Vermont’s: (i) prohibits a person (nowhere in the legislation is a patent troll actually defined) from making a bad faith assertion of patent infringement; (ii) provides criteria a court may consider as evidence that a person has or has not made a bad faith assertion of infringement; (iii) requires a plaintiff accused of making a bad faith claim to post bond under certain circumstances; and, (iv) permits a defendant who has been the victim of a bad faith claim to sue for damages. Universities, technology transfer companies that are owned by universities, and cannily, the pharmaceutical industry, remain exempt from this last provision.
Cease and desist
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