The USPTO and the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a joint Statement of Interest in Collision Communications Inc. v. Samsung in the Eastern District of Texas, strongly reaffirming the role of patent injunctions as a core enforcement tool of patent rights. Collision, a smaller U.S. patent owner with a jury verdict already in hand, is seeking to stop Samsung’s continued use of its technology, while Samsung argues that a running royalty payment is fair.
USPTO Director John A. Squires underscored that a careful, fact-specific injunction analysis is “foundational to the exclusionary right a patent confers” and that injunctions are necessary to prevent ongoing and irreparable harm to innovators and the broader innovation economy. DOJ Antitrust Deputy Assistant Attorney General Dina Kallay linked this directly to competition policy, stressing that innovation is central to dynamic competition and that policies preserving incentives to innovate are essential to safeguarding competitive markets.
In the statement, the agencies reject any categorical rule that non-practicing entities or licensors are ineligible for injunctive relief and instead confirm that such entities may obtain injunctions where they can demonstrate irreparable harm under traditional equitable principles. They also caution against over-reliance on court-imposed royalties, noting the inherent difficulty in valuing patents and the risk that converting infringement into a predictable cost of doing business will encourage “infringe now, pay later” behavior by large companies. In their view, the potential for exclusionary patent rights should remain a meaningful backdrop to licensing negotiations rather than defaulting to judicial price setting.
The core message to courts is straightforward: avoid reducing patents to after-the-fact discount vouchers and instead allow exclusion rights to function as intended, creating real consequences for unauthorized use and encouraging market-based licensing solutions.
With the USPTO’s new leadership publicly reaffirming strong exclusion rights and rolling out pro-patent initiatives, support for patent owners is clearly trending up, making this an ideal time to protect your innovations—schedule a free consultation with us to discuss how it’s done: calendly.com/coltonmypatentguys.