Legal services are crucial in fighting these strategies and protecting companies from unfair moves. This guide aims to provide an few trans sector overview of how you can prevent a patent troll with some legal services, as well the different ways lawyers are critical along every step:
Litigation Tactics
When patent trolls demand the kind of money that they ask for behind threats and petitioned litigation, a lot of companies settle because it is cheaper. These can include filing a large number of lawsuits, applying for injunctions and demanding high licensing fees. Outside counsel can help by creating defensive litigation strategies, overseeing multiple suits in various forums and negotiating to prevent or reduce extortionate licensing rates.
Demand Letters
A demand letter is a legal term and refers to a notification sent by an owner of patent rights (known as the ‘patentee’) alleging that one or more other parties infringe its money-earning. Lawyers can assist by reviewing the demand letter to determine its credibility, providing a response fitting with the relevant circumstances and negotiations if need be in order to limit any potential legal or financial exposure from an action brought on by patent trolls.
Venue Shopping
The practice of selecting specific courtrooms where they believe it is most likely that a jury will see things in their favour. However, this practice can add to the burden on defendants who might have lawsuits be brought against them across state lines in far-off or inconvenient places. Attorneys can help by opposing venue selections and arguing for more suitable jurisdictions, lessening the burden on defendants to have large geographic footprints.
Proving Non-Infringement
An obvious defence is proving that the party accused of violations did not in fact infringe on the patent. That can be proving that its product or process is not part of the patent holder's claims. Or even challenging a claim as invalid an old one and evidence precedents.
Intellectual Property lawyers can do it by conducting a full audit to identify the prior art, preparing evidence in support of a defence that there is no infringement or challenging the validity and relevance of patent claims.
Disputing Invalid Patents
Defendants may challenge the validity of the asserted patent. This might include analysis and witness testimony to establish that indeed the patent at issue fails under legal requirements of patent eligibility. They serve as counsel on the arguments over prior patents, do their own in-depth patent analysis and can present expert witness testimony stating that a particular technology should not be patented at all.
Mediation
In mediation, a neutral third party assists the two fighting parties in settling their differences through agreeable terms. Mediation is a private, confidential and non-binding process. The attorneys can assist by setting the client in mediation along with representing them at mediation and shaping their rights, drafting a final agreement.
Arbitration
Arbitration is a contractual process where parties who agree that their disputes will be decided by arbitration shall pass through this method. Arbitration is typically faster and more pragmatic compared to traditional litigation. Negotiators can help by navigating the minefields of the arbitration process, serving as your direct interface with opposing counsel/other parties on strategising and selecting qualified arbitrators who are likely to interpret agreements in a similar manner.
Litigation
Litigation involves filing lawsuits, presenting evidence and getting the decisions. Lawyers provide the means to fight for justice from filing a lawsuit trying your case in court all by yourself, which is rarely done.
Injunctions
An injunction is a court order demanding the infringing party to cease using or exploiting patented content without permission. Some injunctions can be temporary, others permanent, depending on the circumstances of that case. Lawyers to help with injunctions filing for an injunction can stop unauthorised use and thus protect the client, preventing future infringement.
Compensation for Damages
Civil remedies: provides that individuals and businesses can recover unfair damages if their copyrighted patent is being used unlawfully. The goal of compensation is to attempt to restore your financial position and make up for any losses you may have suffered as a result.
Judicial Orders
These include judicial orders which are in the form to restrain infringing acts, damages provisions and statutory exceptions. Securing judicial orders that protect your client right, adherence to legal standards and render prevention against the continuous actions of patent trolls is where a lawyer can assist.
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