New offices, legislation seen slowing patent lawsuit rush

11.07.2012
A planned network of regional patent offices and the effects of new legislation are expected to slow the recent proliferation of patent lawsuits between big-name tech companies, Rebecca Blank, U.S. acting secretary of commerce, said on Wednesday.

In recent months, companies including Apple and Samsung have spent hours in court arguing over patent infringement in smartphones. The handheld gadgets have generated several big cases, as have issues such as software patents.

"We clearly have some difficult legal issues right now," Blank told IDG News Service. "The America Invents Act and some of the things we are doing are going to help that; I'm not sure they are going to fully solve some of those issues."

Blank was speaking at San Jose State University as part of a daylong trip to Silicon Valley. The visit will see her meet with local political leaders and executives from some of the region's tech companies. It comes a week after the Commerce Department said one of four new satellite patent offices will be based in the San Jose metro area. A precise location has not yet been determined. [.]

Putting an office in Silicon Valley is expected to help the Patent Office hire local experts with greater knowledge of technology, leading to higher-quality patents, she said. [.]

"Higher-quality patents means less legal challenges. Faster patents [also] often mean less legal challenges, because often times the longer it takes to get a patent the more other people are encroaching on the space, so speed and quality are two things I think this legislation and these new offices are going to help us achieve," she said.