FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- August 25, 2025
1,238 views 6 min

The Tiny Words That Could Cripple American Innovation

Imagine a company that spends years, millions of dollars, and countless hours on a breakthrough product, only to have its intellectual property (IP) stolen by a single sentence hidden in a routine document. Unfortunately, this isn’t a hypothetical scenario. It’s the central issue in Vicor Corporation v. International Trade Commission, a case that threatens to dismantle […]

33 POSTS
Paul Morinville is Founder and Executive Director of SPARK Innovation.  SPARK Innovation strives to create an policy environment ...
FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- June 24, 2025
1,359 views 10 min

SPARK US Innovation Opposes PERA: A Call for Amendment to Protect American Innovation

The United States has long been a beacon of innovation, driving global advancements in technology and securing economic and national security through intellectual property protections. However, this leadership is under threat, and SPARK US Innovation, a group dedicated to advancing critical emerging technologies (CET), is sounding the alarm. SPARK opposes the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of […]

33 POSTS
Paul Morinville is Founder and Executive Director of SPARK Innovation.  SPARK Innovation strives to create an policy environment ...
FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- June 1, 2025
2,239 views 11 min

Reinventing Patent Quality: A NIST-Based Program for the USPTO 

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the cornerstone of America’s innovation engine, issuing patents that fuel technological advancement and economic growth. However, perceptions of poor patent quality, driven by vague claim language, inconsistent examinations, costly litigation, and occasional bad rulings by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) or the […]

33 POSTS
Paul Morinville is Founder and Executive Director of SPARK Innovation.  SPARK Innovation strives to create an policy environment ...
FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- April 9, 2025
3,693 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 […]

33 POSTS
Paul Morinville is Founder and Executive Director of SPARK Innovation.  SPARK Innovation strives to create an policy environment ...
FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- February 9, 2025
2,128 views 9 min

Our Unhealthy Patent System in the US

With Robert Kennedy, Jr. making the rounds in Congress for his confirmation, many institutions do not like what he has to say about the American food industry, the ag industry, the pharmaceutical industry, the fast-food industry, and more. President Trump has stated that the health of our nation is something that must be addressed, and […]

-12 POSTS
Raymond Van Dyke is an IP/Patent Attorney and Educator. In his practice, he helps a variety of clients in their IP matters. He spe ...
FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- September 10, 2024
4,353 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 […]

33 POSTS
Paul Morinville is Founder and Executive Director of SPARK Innovation.  SPARK Innovation strives to create an policy environment ...
FEATURED
Innovation Gadfly
- July 31, 2024
2,468 views 10 min

Rep. Darrell Issa Proposes Legislation Harmful to Startups and Inventors

Rep. Darrell Issa, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s IP Subcommittee, recently introduced draft legislation titled the Litigation Transparency Act of 2024 (LTA).  Issa knows this legislation is bad for inventors and startups because it was explained clearly to him in a hearing in his IP Subcommittee. You can read more about this hearing […]

33 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
1,772 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 […]

33 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
2,271 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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