In Part I of this two-part interview, Y.P. Jou, the founder and CEO of InQuartik and a recognized leader in the IP industry, shared his thoughts on the importance of patent quality and explained how platforms like Patentcloud, an advanced patent intelligence platform, will revolutionize the patent transaction market.
Now, in Part II of our exclusive interview, Y.P. explains how patent quality is just as important to the patent litigation market, and how this, too, will be revolutionized by Patentcloud.
Revolutionizing the Patent Litigation Market
You mentioned the litigation market as well. Could you share your thoughts on how Patentcloud will change patent litigation?
For the defendant or the attorneys in a patent litigation case, Patentcloud’s Quality Insights enables them to understand the quality of the patent at issue in an instant.
With this knowledge, they are in a better position to formulate the most effective strategy.
They also have more time to devote to this, since in the past, collecting all of the necessary prior art and conducting this research required a great deal of time, money, and effort.
Now, with Quality Insights’ Claim Insights feature, comparing the patent at issue to the prior art has never been easier, since the Claim Insights feature gathers and assembles all of the prior art in a convenient, easy-to-ready claim chart format.
Since Quality Insights helps the defendant or the attorney in a case to gather all of the relevant prior art quickly and easily, more time can be devoted to determining whether the patent at issue can be invalidated or its scope limited.
In some cases, a design-around may also be deemed a viable option.
Even if a defendant or attorney cannot invalidate the patent at issue, limit its scope, or come up with a design-around, then the insights gained from Quality Insights can still be helpful when negotiations with the patent owner start, since the insights Quality Insights delivers can enhance the defendant’s bargaining position.
With Quality Insights and the insights it provides, defendants or their attorneys can develop problem-solving strategies to deal with litigation more quickly, effectively, and easily.
What about on the plaintiff-side in patent litigation?
If I may be blunt,
Quality Insights increases the plaintiff’s chances of winning a case,
since Quality Insights enables the plaintiff to understand the true quality of the patent that will be asserted and to know in advance where the defendant will attack the patent quality issues after the lawsuit has commenced.
With Quality Insights, plaintiffs can choose “litigation-proof quality patents” for litigation. These stronger patents are less likely to be invalidated.
In addition, it can be easier to pressure a client into accepting a licensing program with the type of patents that Quality Insights can help to identify.
So, it seems that Patentcloud can help both the defendant and the plaintiff in a patent litigation case.
Correct. Think of it this way: Patentcloud’s Quality Insights helps a defendant to better defend itself,
either by providing the prior art to quickly invalidate the patent at issue or by providing the insights to formulate an effective strategy in response to a patent assertion.
For a plaintiff, Quality Insights increases the chances of winning a lawsuit,
since the true quality of a potential asserted patent can be confirmed before any legal action is taken.
In addition, both parties can benefit from Patentcloud’s interactive Dashboard, which not only presents data in easy-to-read visualizations but also make it easy to customize the data.
As we wrap things up, may I ask your thoughts on some of the areas to watch when it comes to patents in 2019?
Certainly. When it comes to the patent industry, a few sectors to keep an eye on include 8K, 5G technology, AI, and healthcare products. This was borne out at the recent CES show in Las Vegas, where these sectors featured prominently in the conversations of many attendees.
But beyond specific sectors, I think
the most important story in the patent industry in 2019 will be patent quality.
In the past, there simply was no way to quickly and accurately evaluate patent quality.
Now, thanks to advances in technology and the dedicated efforts of the InQuartik team, patent quality can be determined in an instant.
This means greater transparency in the patent transaction market, with buyers or licensors knowing which patents to buy or license, and patent holders able to offer quality patents from the get-go.
For patent litigation, Quality Insights is enabling to defendants or their attorneys to evaluate the patent at issue in an instant, giving them more time to focus on developing the best strategy. At the same time, Quality Insights is making it possible for plaintiffs to select “litigation-proof quality patents” for litigation from the start, greatly increasing their chances of victory.
To be honest, I believe that Patentcloud will transform these markets in a positive way, making them more transparent and efficient, which will benefit all those involved.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us today.
You are welcome. For those who would like to learn more about Patentcloud and patent quality, be sure to visit inquartik.com.
