Patent Trolls: Broad Brush Definitions and Law Enforcement Ideas

J. Thomas Rosch, Commissioner, Federal Trade Commission

6/12/2008
(Original Publish Date: 5/31/2008)

The Supreme Court's decision in eBay, Inc. v. MercExchange L.L.C.2 is the subject of this article. In that case, the Court held that permanent injunctions should be issued against patent infringers only when the traditional four-part test historically applied by courts of equity is satisfied; otherwise, the plaintiff is entitled only to recover its damages resulting from the infringement. Put differently, in order to obtain a permanent injunction, the plaintiff must show that (1) irreparable injury has been suffered, (2) remedies at law are inadequate to compensate that injury, (3) the injunction is warranted in light of the balance of hardships between the plaintiff and the defendant, and (4) the public interest would not be disserved by a permanent injunction.