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Judges and Experts Address Patent Litigation at International Conference

The College of Law and Industrial Technology Research Institute hosted the International Conference on Patent Litigation and Non-Practicing Entity Trends here at NTU on October 30 and 31. The conference invited judges and intellectual property rights scholars and experts from the United States, Germany, Japan, South Korea and France to share their insights on recent trends in patent litigation and the rise of non-practicing entities around the world. The event drew over 400 participants.

The motivation for organizing the conference was the tempest that hit Apple after their tablet computers appeared on the market; the storm led to heated debate around the world. Patent litigation is not only highly technical, but also occurs under intense time pressure, and it is frequently used as a means to block competitors from entering a market. Given the fierce patent wars over tablet computers and smart phones that have erupted among such parties as Apple, Samsung, Motorola, HTC and Google in the United States and Europe in recent years, it is not difficult to observe the trends in the implementation of patent litigation strategies.

The views and opinions of the legal communities in countries around the world on high technology patent litigation are sufficient to influence the litigation strategies adopted by high technology industries. In order to enable Taiwan’s high technology industry and legal community to better understand recent changes in international patent litigation, especially the viewpoints of the legal community in the United States on such issues as the patent litigation battles involving Apple, the conference organizers invited three highlyexperienced judges from the US Federal Circuit, US District Courts and the US International Trade Commission as well as practicing American attorneys to share their experiences in the review and practice of patent litigation.

Among the keynote speakers were: Chief Judge Randall Rader from the US Court of Appeals Federal Circuit, who enjoys an international reputation for his expertise in intellectual property rights litigation; Judge Theodore Essex from the USITC, who presided over the patent case between Motorola and Microsoft concerning Android; and Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal from the US District Court for the Northern District of California, who heard the patent case between Samsung and Apple.

Non-practicing entities, which do not commercialize their patents, but use them to initiate litigation against other companies for patent infringement, have drawn much attention in recent years. The impact of NPEs on businesses is growing gradually, and Taiwanese enterprises presently face hundreds of patents cases initiated by NPEs. The conference held an open forum to address the most pressing issues involving NPEs for enterprises, including the America Invents Act, standard/essential patents, availability of injunctive relief and FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms).

Chinese version