South Carolina Looks to Follow Vermont's Lead in Fighting Patent Trolls- Using State Law
A bill pending in the South Carolina General Assembly that would make "bad faith assertions of patent infringement" an "unfair trade practice" under South Carolina law got a "jurisdictional boost" from a recent Opinion and Order issued by a Vermont Federal Court judge. Background The actions of patent-assertion entities (PAEs) that purportedly own patents and use litigation and the threat of litigation to enforce them are well-documented. (For a brief description of the topic and some additional resources, click here ). PAEs are referred to by their detractors as "patent trolls." As a general proposition, patent law is exclusively federal in nature. Congress has given the U.S. district courts original and exclusive jurisdiction, pursuant to 28 U.S. Section 1338 , over any civil action related to patents. As a result, litigation involving the validity, infringement, and enforcement of patents must take place in federal district court. V...