FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- April 9, 2025
668 views 9 min

Weaponized Fairness: Big Tech’s Dirty Secret in the U.S. Patent System

There’s a nasty little game going on in the U.S. patent system—one that no one in Washington seems willing to talk about. Big Tech corporations, the same ones screaming the loudest about imaginary “patent trolls” and “bad patents”, are quietly withholding prior art from the USPTO. Then, when those patents get issued, they turn around […]

28 POSTS
Paul Morinville is Founder and Executive Director of SPARK Innovation.  SPARK Innovation strives to create an policy environment ...
FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- September 10, 2024
3,068 views 13 min

The RESTORE Act Fails; Codifies the Effects of eBay

The U.S. Constitution constructs a patent as nothing but an “exclusive Right,” the very essence of a private property right. As such, for two centuries preceding 2006, over 90% of patent owners who won patent infringement cases were awarded injunctive relief. Infringers knew ahead of time that the courts would stop their infringement, which could […]

28 POSTS
Paul Morinville is Founder and Executive Director of SPARK Innovation.  SPARK Innovation strives to create an policy environment ...
FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- June 18, 2024
1,038 views 16 min

Why Third-Party Litigation Funding Is A Misguided Focus

third party litigation funding tplf misguided

On June 12, 2024, the House IP Subcommittee held a hearing called The U.S. Intellectual Property System and the Impact of Litigation Financed by Third-Party Investors and Foreign Entities. The hearing was about third-party litigation funding (TPLF) related to patent litigation and the perceived national security risks of hidden hostile foreign funders. Some of the […]

28 POSTS
Paul Morinville is Founder and Executive Director of SPARK Innovation.  SPARK Innovation strives to create an policy environment ...
FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- May 14, 2024
1,308 views 14 min

Dear Congress, the PTAB Hinders Innovation and Threatens National Security

PTAB hinders innovation threats national security

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) effectively invalidates 84% of the patents it fully adjudicates. That fact comes directly from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) PTAB Trial Statistics FY23 End of Year Outcome. This astronomical PTAB invalidation rate has effectively shut down investment in early-stage startups, particularly in vital sectors that require […]

-12 POSTS
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FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- April 2, 2024
969 views 16 min

Debunking Big Tech’s False Argument: Patent Legislation Won’t Raise Drug Prices

big tech false narrative

In the U.S. Senate, there is a push to markup the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (PERA) and the Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership Act (PREVAIL). Both are patent-related legislation introduced in the Senate, and PREVAIL has been introduced in the House. The recent lobbying blitz by those on all sides of the […]

28 POSTS
Paul Morinville is Founder and Executive Director of SPARK Innovation.  SPARK Innovation strives to create an policy environment ...