Tessera files Amicus brief in i4i case

SAN JOSE, USA: Tessera Technologies Inc. has filed an amicus brief in the US Supreme Court on March 18, 2011, in the Microsoft Corp. v. i4i Limited Partnership case in support of Respondent i4i’s argument that the standard for proving patent invalidity in court should continue to be the “clear and convincing evidence” standard.

“Patents are a key asset for innovation companies such as Tessera,” said Bernard J. “Barney” Cassidy, executive vice president and general counsel, Tessera. “Abandoning the ‘clear and convincing’ standard would harm the United States of America’s long history of strong patent rights, upset decades of settled expectations, and encourage trumped-up patent invalidity challenges. Particularly at a time when Congress is working to strengthen the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. patent system, the Court should not use evidentiary burdens of proof as a means to intervene in this ongoing legislative debate.”

Tessera is joined on the brief by the National Small Business Association and Luminex Corporation. The key issue in the i4i case is whether the Court should accept Microsoft’s argument to lower the standard for proving patent invalidity in court from the current “clear and convincing evidence” standard to a lower “preponderance of the evidence” standard.