The proposed post-grant challenge: Quality control or quagmire?

CHAL 33

Herbert D. Hart III, HHART@mcandrews-ip.com, McAndrews, Held & Malloy, Ltd, 500 W Madison Street, Suite 3400, Chicago, IL 60661
A key provision of the proposed patent law reform bill is the creation of a proceeding in the Patent and Trademark Office for challenging a patent after it's issued. The most often discussed benefits of such a proceeding are its “quality control” function and its potential as an alternative to expensive litigation over patent validity in the US District Courts. But there's been great debate about the details, particularly as to the time limits for initiating such a proceeding, with the pharmaceutical sector having one view and the tech sector another.