Former Federal Judge Pans Proposed Patent Bills

摘要

A former federal appellate judge criticized proposed federal legislation for limiting judges' flexibility in addressing abusive patent litigation during a recent policy event. Provisions in proposed patent litigation reform legislation on fee-shifting seem to assume "that judges are unwilling and unable to curb abusive behavior," Paul Michel, the former chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, said. Yet, he added, he very seldom saw motions for fee-shifting. He was speaking from the audience during the second panel of an April 1 patent reform event hosted by Bloomberg Government, after having been a speaker himself during the first panel.