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DEEP & FAR

 

 

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IV. NPE and Domestic industryNPE»P¥»¦a²£·~

    Discussed below are common issues NPEs face when attempting to establish a nexus between the licensing investments and the asserted patent(s) as well as the substantiality of the relevant investments.¤U­±°Q½×ªº¬O¸Õ¹Ï«Ø¥ß±ÂÅv§ë¸ê©M¨tª§±M§Q¤§¶¡ªº³sµ²¥H¤Î¬ÛÃö§ë¸êªº¹êÅé©Ê®É¡ANPE­±Á{ªº±`¨£°ÝÃD¡C

A. Nexus to Asserted Patent

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    In some cases, NPEs may acquire and hold a wide range of patents related to different technologies and spanning multiple jurisdictions.¦b¬Y¨Ç±¡ªp¤U¡A NPE¥i¯àÀò¨ú©M«ù¦³¯A¤Î¤£¦Pªº§Þ³N©M¸ó¶V¦h­ÓºÞÁÒÅvªº¼s¤j½d³òªº±M§Q¡CHowever, as discussed above, the Commission requires a complainant to establish a nexus between licensing investments and the asserted patent(s).µM¦Ó¡A¦p¤W­z°Q½×ªº¡A¸Ó©e­û·|­n¨D­ì§i«Ø¥ß±ÂÅv§ë¸ê©M¨tª§±M§Q¤§¶¡ªº³sµ²¡C Thus, an NPE likely cannot rely on simply citing generalized patent portfolio licensing expenditures or even general patent familiesâ£á™ licensing expenditures but, instead, will likely have to provide evidence of specific efforts to license the asserted patent(s).¦]¦¹¡ANPE¥i¯à¤£¯à¨Ì¿à©ó¥u¬O¤Þ¥Î¼s¸qªº±M§Q²Õ¦X±ÂÅv¤ä¥X¡A©Î¬Æ¦Ü¤@¯ë±M§Q®a±Úªº±ÂÅv¤ä¥X¡A¦ý¬O¡A¬Û¤Ïªº¡A¥i¯à±N¥²¶·´£¨Ñ¥Î©ó±ÂÅv¨tª§±M§Qªº¨ãÅé§V¤OªºÃÒ¾Ú¡C¦b¤@¨ÇNPE±M§Q²Õ¦Xªº³W¼Ò©M½d³ò¤U¡A³o¤@ÂI¤×¨ä­«­n¡CAll other things being equal, a smaller number of patents in a portfolio will likely assist in establishing a stronger nexus to the asserted patent(s).©Ò¦³¨ä¥Lªº¨Æ±¡³£¬O¥­µ¥ªº¡A§ë¸ê²Õ¦X¤¤¼Æ¶q¸û¤pªº±M§Q¥i¯à·|À°§U»P¨tª§±M§Q«Ø¥ß¤@­Ó§ó±j¦³¤Oªº³sµ²¡CBut for relatively large or geographically diverse portfolios, simply citing to expenses incurred in connection with efforts involving the portfolio are not likely to be adequate without some effort to tie those expenses to the individual asserted patent(s).¦ý¬O¹ï©ó¤ñ¸û¤jªº©Î¦h­Ó¦a²z¦ì¸mªº²Õ¦X¡A¥u¬O¤Þ¥Î»P¯A¤Î§ë¸êªº§V¤O³sµ²µo¥Íªº¶O¥Î¡A¦Ó¨S¦³±N¨º¨Ç¶O¥Î»P¿W¥ßªº¨tª§±M§Q³sµ²ªº¤@¨Ç§V¤O¡A¥i¯à¤£¥R¤À¡CThis problem is exacerbated for NPEs that license solely on a portfolio-wide basis, and whose licensing activities would likely relate to the entire portfolio.¹ï©ó¥u¦b²Õ¦X½d³òªº°ò¦¤W±ÂÅv¡B¦Ó¨ä±ÂÅv¦æ¬°¥i¯à·|¯A¤Î¨ì¾ã­Ó§ë¸ê²Õ¦XªºNPE¡A³o­Ó°ÝÃD§ó´c¤Æ¡CThis may create a significant hurdle for an NPE to overcome in attempting to demonstrate a sufficient nexus to the asserted patent(s).³o¥i¯à·|¹ï©ó§JªA¸Õ¹Ïªí²{¥X»P¨tª§±M§Qªº¥R¤À³sµ²ªºNPE³Ð³y¤@­ÓÅãµÛªº»Ùê¡C

 

    ¤j©M¦h¼Ë¤Æªº±M§Q²Õ¦X¥i¯à·|¾É­PNPEªº¨ä¥L°ÝÃD¡CFor example, evidence may be lacking as to whether any of its licensees actually employs the patented technology.¨Ò¦p¡A¥i¯à¯Ê¥F¨ä¥ô¦ó³Q±ÂÅv¤H¬O§_¹ê»Ú±Ä¥Î±M§Q§Þ³NªºÃÒ¾Ú¡CIn addition, the asserted patent(s) may never have been explicitly mentioned in any license negotiations.¦¹¥~¡A¨tª§±M§Q¥i¯à±q¨Ó¨S¦³³Q©úÅã¦a¦b¥ô¦ó±ÂÅv½Í§P¤¤´£¤Î¡C¦b±ÂÅv°Q½×¤¤¡AA failure to understand the relative importance of each asserted patent as compared to other, non-accused patents in licensing discussions may result in a weaker nexus.¤£À´±o¨C­Ó¨tª§±M§Q»P¨ä¥L«D³Q§i±M§Q¤ñ¸ûªº¬Û¹ï­«­n©Ê¡A¥i¯à·|¾É­P¸û®zªº³sµ²¡CFinally, some NPEs may try to establish the value contributed by the asserted patent(s) to the portfolio by employing economic analyses such as patent citation counts.³Ì«á¡A¤@¨ÇNPE¥i¯àÂǥѱĥΦp±M§Q³Q¤Þ¥Î¦¸¼Æªº¸gÀÙ¤ÀªR¡A¹Á¸Õ«Ø¥ß¥Ñ¨tª§±M§Q¹ï§ë¸ê²Õ¦X°^Ämªº»ù­È¡CSuch approaches need to be vetted carefully before being relied upon to establish a nexus.³o¨Ç¤èªk¦b³Q¨Ì¾a¨Ó«Ø¥ß³sµ²¤§«e¡A»Ý­n³Q¥J²Ó¼f®Ö¡C