US Inventor’s First Annual Conference was held on October 19th and 20th at the U.S. Patent office facility in Alexandria, VA to celebrate 10 years of work to achieve its mission “to restore the patent system to what it once was and to empower inventors to succeed.” About 150 people attended all or part of the two-day event. It was a resounding success and truly a remarkable event!
I had the pleasure of attending this event because I have been a board member of the San Diego Inventors Forum since 2014 and have been the liaison between our club and US Inventor, which is the only organization representing small inventors, businesses, and startups to enact change that supports inventors.
The conference was preceded by a day at the Capital where about 30 of us broke up into small groups to meet with the staff of Congressional Representatives in Congress to discuss how to fix the broken patent system. The afternoon included a networking event held in the Rayburn building Gold Room to which Congressional staffers were invited to see the new documentary, Innovation Race, directed by Luke Livingston. Mr. Livingston attended the whole USI conference and handled the live streaming and recording of the event.
US Inventor founder, Paul Morinville, began the conference Friday morning by saying that he started walking the halls of Congress to advocate for Inventor Rights in 2013 after his aspirations of achieving both the Inventor’s Dream and the American Dream were cut short by the America Invents Act of 2011 (AIA) and establishment of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). He was joined by Randy Landreneau in January 2014. Paul incorporated US Inventor as a 501(c)(4) non-profit corporation on March 17, 2015 to put a stop to H.R. 9, the Innovation Act. After visiting the offices of every senator, the Innovation Act died in committee in 2016 during the 114th Congress (2015-2016). When Josh Malone joined them in 2017, it greatly helped their efforts.
Space doesn’t permit me to give a full recap of the conference, so I am providing highlights from my notes. The panels both days were interspersed by the stories of inventors who have had their patents infringed or invalidated by the PTAB. These stores were heartbreaking, and I could mot do justice to them in writing; you had to hear the stories to get the full impact.
Next, former USPTO Director, Andrei Iancu, discussed “The Importance of Innovation”, saying in part that “patents and inventions ae part of the American fabric. We should stop and think what the world was like before the U.S. patent system…Every change that we use today was backed by a patent…Patents and the right to have patens are incorporated in the Constitution in Article 1, Section 8. He added that “without the patent system, it is very difficult to raise the money needed to produce and market new products. There is an inextricable link between IP and innovation and without a secure patent system, innovation is stagnating…Inventors have always been the backbone of the American economy and American dream.”
Paul discussed “Where Did our Patent System Go?” He explained that even before the American Invents Act AIA) was passed in 2011, the Supreme Court decision of “Ebay vs. Merexchange” in 2006 “changed Intellectual property from a personal property to a ‘tort’ or “public franchise” and created a “public interest test’ in order for inventors to receive injunctive relief from infringement.” Injunctive Relief stops an infringer from making selling, or using a patent, but it has become difficult for an inventor to pass the “public interest test” against a large corporation that has saturated the market with the product based on the patent they infringed.
The AIA created the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). It is a nonjudicial administrative tribunal within the USPTO. A panel of lawyers are appointed “Administrative Patent Judges” and granted bonuses to revoke patents. There is no jury and no due process of law. The PTAB is funded by fees of the petitioner (usually a large corporation that is infringing the patent they are challenging for review). Currently, the PTAB is invalidating 84% of the patents they review.
A panel discussion of “PTAB vs. Federal Court: Comparing the Two Forums” followed that was moderated by Warren Tuttle. Panelists were Rob Sterne, Adam Mosoff, and Molly Metz. A few comments were:
Adam Mosoff – “The PTAB hasn’t lived up to its expectations. I had told people that the ‘first to file’ vs. ‘first to invent’ and PTAB would be problematic. The PTAB didn’t put in any protections for inventor’s rights. PTAB was characterized as easier for people and faster, but they set up a system that was ultimately faster to lose rights.
Molly Metz – “I spent over $400,000 and it took four years, so it wasn’t cheaper or faster.” (Molly had share he heartbreaking story of her patent infringement and invalidation after Paul’s introduction.)
Rob Sterne – “We need a system that is really faster and fair for people. The way PTAB law is applied isn’t anything like the way it was supposed to be. It has put a real damper on investment and innovation in this country.”
The Friday afternoon session included a discussion of “Bleeding You Dry: The Court’s Misuse of Injunctive” by Thomas Woolsten, founder of Mercexchange and main inventor of 30 patents. He said, “The current system provides strong incentives for patent infringement. No patent of importance is going to get to the injunctive stage.”
The highlight of the afternoon was “The Great Debate: PREVAIL, PERA, and New Legislation.” Moderated by Paul Morinville. The panelists were: Judge Paul Michel, Scott McKeown, Rudy Fink, and Steve Daniels. Judge Michel said, “About 50% of American venture capital is now going overseas to China and other countries…The anti-patent lobby is very large and well-funded.” He supports PERA because “it takes the courts out of the issue of eligibility and solves 80-85% of the problems with patents.”
S. 2140: Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2023 (PERA) introduced by Senators Thomas Tillis (R-NC) and Christopher Coons (D-DE) on 6/22/2023 was discussed in my article “Inventor Rights Still Being Threatened.”
S. 2220: PREVAIL Act was introduced on Jul 10, 2023 by Senator Christopher Coons (D-DE) – “A bill to amend title 35, United States Code, to invest in inventors in the United States, maintain the United States as the leading innovation economy in the world, and protect the property rights of the inventors that grow the economy of the United States, and for other purposes.”
Friday’s event concluded with remarks from Judge Pauline Newman, followed by a networking cocktail reception.
There isn’t enough space in this article to permit a recap of the topics covered at the Saturday event. The following topics were discussed:
“Does ‘Any” mean ‘Any’? Ask Alice” presented by Robert Greenspoon.
Why and How 97% of IP Portfolio Owners Destroy Most of their Portfolios” discussed by panelists Evan Langdon, Jack Lu, and Russ Genet and moderated by Steve Taylor
“How to Survive the Patent System” discussed by Jeff Hardin, Josh Malone and Paul Bartkowski that was moderated by Eli Mazour.
“New Solutions for New Problems: Freezing Assets of Online Infringers on Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, and the Internet” presented by Joel Rothman.
The afternoon concluded with a discussion of “Advocating for a Stronger Patent System” by panelists Paul Morinville, Molly Metz, Cliff Maloney, Justin Greiss, and Randy Landreneau.
An awards ceremony and dinner took place that evening at the Holiday Inn Carlyle in Alexandria, VA where attendees stayed. Awards presented were: Michael Kintner: The Inventor; Molly Metz: The Advocate; John Murray: The Warrior; Jeff Hardin: The Veteran.
In closing, Paul said, “We are honored to have such a significant turnout for our first event and incredibly grateful to our members, speakers, and sponsors for making this event possible. We have so much work to do, and I hope the event, discussions, panels, and presentations allowed USI members to feel empowered and motivated to enact change.”