Patent Reform Act Amendment to Make Inequitable Conduct a Circus

writes Lee Thomason at Patent Baristas:

[W]hat is the worst havoc that the "Amendment" allows an infringer to craft around a colorable claim of inequitable conduct. I think that the grandest fracas would be (1) a suit pleading invalidity, unenforceability and attempted monopolization, and (2) a "referral" per §136(c) of the alleged inequitable conduct for a Special Office investigation, and (3) if you time it right, a post-grant opposition proceeding per §321 of the proposed Reform bill. That three-ring circus should keep the patentee occupied, whilst the infringement continues, for a good long while!

Check out the rest.

Prior posts:
    Aug. 24, 2005 - Cringely: Patent Reform Unfair to Absent-Minded Inventors.
    Aug. 23, 2005 - Draft Amendment to Patent Act of 2005 Circulating.