Legal Quirk Lets Anyone Sue Over Patents
Look carefully at the lid to your coffee cup or the handle of your disposable razor. A recent ruling on an obscure, century-old statute has opened the door for people familiar with the finer points of patent law to sue companies that stamp their products with expired patent numbers.
A couple of sharp-eyed lawyers are shooting for a financial windfall through the nearly forgotten law, and the Justice Department says they have a case.
The ruling in federal court in Alexandria appears to be the first of its kind upholding the constitutionality of a law allowing anyone to sue in the name of the government if they have evidence that a company is guilty of “false markings” — namely, claiming patent protections that have expired or never existed.
The person who sues gets to keep half of any money awarded, with the rest going to the government. Damages of up to $500 per violation are allowed, which for mass-produced items with “Patent” stamped on every product could theoretically run into billions of dollars.
Despite the financial incentive to sue, lawyers in the Virginia case say no one other than businesses with a financial stake availed themselves of the law.
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Photo by premierpatents.com.
Jaclyn on July 5th, 2009 12:24 pm
I see the logic beyond this law…wanting to make sure that every patent is up to date and correct. However, I also forsee this turning into another cheap way that people will start to make money by sueing just about every company that has an expired patent on it.
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