R Street joins Public Knowledge, others, in urging Supreme Court to apply appropriate liability standards in key patent-infringement case
WASHINGTON (Feb. 24, 2015) – The Supreme Court should interpret patent law to limit needless infringement-inducement cases against technology companies, products, and services, the R Street Institute said today, joining other public-policy groups in an amicus curiae brief filed in the Commil v. Cisco case.
The case before the Court centers on whether Cisco is legally liable for infringement of Commil’s patents by inducing others to infringe those patents.“We know that patent and copyright protection are rooted in the same clause of the our Constitution, and we’ve seen their legal doctrines shape each other in the past,” said Mike Godwin, director of innovation policy and general counsel for R Street. “That’s why it’s vital for the court to apply the same liability standards for ‘inducing infringement’ in patent law that have been applied in copyright.”“People should not be held automatically responsible for infringing someone else’s patent if there’s no evidence of culpable, guilty expression and conduct,” he added.
Other organizations joining the Public Knowledge brief include the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries, the Association of College and Research Libraries, and the Center for Democracy and Technology.
The brief can be read in full here.
