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2L here, science background (patent bar eligible), and will be working in the patent litigation group of Fish & Richardson/Finnegan this coming summer. The Innovation Act looks to curb troll litigation once and for all. Great for most companies, bad for patent litigators. Should I try to get in as much patent prosecution work as possible this summer? Should I be extra worried about a no-offer given the state of patent litigation (if the Innovation Act passes)?

Anonymous User wrote:2L here, science background (patent bar eligible), and will be working in the patent litigation group of Fish & Richardson/Finnegan this coming summer. The Innovation Act looks to curb troll litigation once and for all. Great for most companies, bad for patent litigators. Should I try to get in as much patent prosecution work as possible this summer? Should I be extra worried about a no-offer given the state of patent litigation (if the Innovation Act passes)?

I don't think anyone can predict that. There are too many factors here, if the Inovation Act passes, if work dries up, if work dries up so quickly that your firm will be looking to cut back before the end of the summer, if your particular firm decides to no offer or just cut back hiring next year, etc. I would just keep in mind that this is the way the winds are blowing and make sure you don't blow off this semester on the off chance you need to go through OCI again.

Anonymous User wrote:2L here, science background (patent bar eligible), and will be working in the patent litigation group of Fish & Richardson/Finnegan this coming summer. The Innovation Act looks to curb troll litigation once and for all. Great for most companies, bad for patent litigators. Should I try to get in as much patent prosecution work as possible this summer? Should I be extra worried about a no-offer given the state of patent litigation (if the Innovation Act passes)?

It won't happen that fast. We'll have to see how much of an impact it will have.

Also I'm pretty faithful that the Fed. Cir. bros will destroy the fee shifting by interpreting it the same as their current exceptional case doctrine.

Things will probably be okay in the short term, but the trend is decidedly bad for the long term. Companies like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. are relying on their market positions as monopolists more than their patent portfolios these days. As a result, it's a net loss for them to have a well-functioning patent system (since they get sued all the time). These companies are pumping millions into lobbying for drastic changes to the patent system like fee shifting. Hopefully, BigPharma will do something to counterbalance these companies, but I'm not keeping my hopes up.

Anonymous User wrote:2L here, science background (patent bar eligible), and will be working in the patent litigation group of Fish & Richardson/Finnegan this coming summer. The Innovation Act looks to curb troll litigation once and for all. Great for most companies, bad for patent litigators. Should I try to get in as much patent prosecution work as possible this summer? Should I be extra worried about a no-offer given the state of patent litigation (if the Innovation Act passes)?

what science? IA probably have little impact on Chem/Bio litigation. As a matter of fact, IA was strongly opposed by the the bio/phama industry last year. Even IA was passed, legitimate patent law suit will still go on. It is about the time for congress to do something about it. Not want to sound like a sour grape, a couple of friends graduated a few years ago from a lower rank TX school, now they are making nearly a million per year by sitting in the office sending out the harassment letters.

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:Things will probably be okay in the short term, but the trend is decidedly bad for the long term. Companies like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. are relying on their market positions as monopolists more than their atent portfolios these days. As a result, it's a net loss for them to have a well-functioning patent system (since they get sued all the time). These companies are pumping millions into lobbying for drastic changes to the patent system like fee shifting. Hopefully, BigPharma will do something to counterbalance these companies, but I'm not keeping my hopes up.

It is time to have differential patent law for different industries. If I remember correctly, some industry (Pharma) is carved out from IA.

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