Representatives Danny K. Davis and Paul A. Gosar Introduce Bipartisan Inventor Rights Act of 2019

Statement

Congressman Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Chair of the Worker and Family Support Subcommittee on the Committee on Ways and Means and Congressman Paul A. Gosar (AZ-04) yesterday introduced the Inventor Rights Act of 2019 today in the Untied States House of Representatives.

Under this bill inventors who own their own patent will be permitted to opt out of Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Accused infringers will have the right to challenge validity in a regular court of law, which is how the U.S. patent system worked for our first 190 years. If the PTAB is reformed such that it is a faster and cheaper alternative to district court, then inventors will voluntarily participate. Currently, inventors usually only receive a "reasonable royalty", while even a willful infringer gets to keep most of their profits from using the invention without permission. This bill disgorges all the profits from willful infringers who knew or should have known of their violation of a patent owned by the original inventor. This remedy is consistent with other forms of intellectual property including design patents, copyrights, and trademarks.

In addition, inventors that own their own patent will be entitled to:

-injunctions to prohibit unauthorized use of the invention
-the right to file suit in their home district
-recovery of attorney fees that exceed more than 10% of the amount of damages awarded

Davis said, "It is imperative that my colleagues and I exercise our constitutional authority to promote progress in the useful arts of intellectual property by securing inventors the exclusive rights to their creations."

The Inventor Rights Act provides narrowly targeted relief only to inventors that own and control their own patents. This bill does not apply to large corporations, drug companies, or typical non-practicing entities.

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