The America Invents Act: Slaying Trolls, Limiting Joinder

摘要

Only time will tell how § 299 will actually impact patent infringement suits brought by patent trolls. This Note suggests that in section 19(d) of the AIA, Congress intended to limit one strategy commonly used by patent trolls: joining a large number of unrelated defendants in the same suit to secure the plaintiffs' choice of forum. The provision may have broad effects on patent litigation, including making it easier to transfer cases, increasing the number of cases brought by patent trolls, subjecting patent trolls' patents to multiple assessments of validity, and giving defendants more autonomy to try their own cases.