Patents

The Developing 5G Patent Race

The USPTO recently released a report that argues “no company or country leads in 5G patenting.” The data that underlines this report is pulled from 5G patents that were self-declared, meaning they were not checked for essentiality or validity. Regardless of the difficulty pinpointing a leader, the 5G patent race is becoming increasingly competitive, with 5G on track to become one of the most lucrative Standard Essential Patent (SEP) markets. An SEP is a patent that claims an invention that must comply with a technical standard.

Trends Impacting Patent Law in 2022

Continued uncertainty in supply chains and the attempts of regulators to catch up to innovation lead many spectators to believe that patent disputes will continue to thrive in the coming year.

COVID-19 & The Continued Influx of Patent Litigation

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 brought about an influx of patent related litigation. Experts postulate that both the financial pressures related to the pandemic and the increasing strength of the technology sector sparked this increase in litigation. Now, almost two years after the start of the pandemic, this surge continues and could be considered a new normal.

NFTs & Intellectual Property

NFTs hold the power to improve processes associated with securing, selling, and licensing patents. However, NFTs could also result in litigation should owners of an NFT infringe on trademarks or copyrights.

Will Metamaterials Become a Focus of Patent Litigation?

With an eye towards the future, let us explore some of the areas in which we are seeing commercial product development activity using metamaterials. These product areas are currently seeing an uptick in the filing and buying of patents, which tends to serve as a good precursor to litigation.