Our patent system has been relentlessly attacked for the better part of the last 20 years. Patents have been blamed for everything from the creation of patent litigation abuse to high prescription drug costs. There is scant evidence of an actual causal relationship, yet the attacks continue. Knowing that it would be impossible to outright ban patents, the popular argument is that poor quality patents that should not have issued are responsible for a majority of litigation issues and drug prices. In response, Congress created the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2011 to make it easier to invalidate “low quality” patents without the need for federal district court litigation. Yet, after more than 10 years of invalidating issued patents through the PTAB, the criticism of our patent system has not abated.

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