Justice Department and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office File Statement of Interest Reaffirming the Importance of Incentives to Innovate

Today, the Justice Department and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) filed a statement of interest in Collision Communications Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., et al. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The statement reaffirms the importance of preserving incentives to innovate, which are key to growth and dynamic competition in the U.S. economy and fundamental to the U.S. patent system.

“Innovation is core to dynamic competition, and vigorous competition is central to the success of the American economy. Policies that preserve incentives to innovate are therefore vital to safeguarding competition,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Dina Kallay of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “We are pleased to partner with our USPTO colleagues to address these critical issues and support innovators, both big and small.”

“The USPTO again joined the Justice Department in filing a statement of interest because a thorough evaluation as to whether a patent owner is entitled to injunctive relief is foundational to the exclusionary right a patent confers,” said John A. Squires, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. “Injunctions prevent ongoing and irreparable harm to innovators and the innovation economy, and ensure that legal remedies can stop unlawfully copied inventions from continuing to harm innovators.”

Today’s statement of interest explains that unduly limiting patentees’ ability to seek injunctive relief to block patent infringement undermines the incentive to innovate. A patentee’s right to exclude is grounded in the U.S. Constitution. Non-practicing patentees should not be categorically denied the opportunity for injunctive relief and, under certain circumstances, such patentees can demonstrate irreparable harm and the inadequacy of monetary damages to compensate for the harm of continuing infringement. The statement was filed in support of neither party and does not take a position on the merits or the ultimate outcome of the questions at issue in the case.

The Antitrust Division routinely files statements of interest and amicus briefs in federal court. These statements are available on the Division’s website.