Senators Coons and Cotton Reintroduce RESTORE Act to Strengthen Patent Injunction Rights 📌 Author: Eileen McDermott, Editor-in-Chief, IPWatchdog 📌 Read the Full Article: https://ipwatchdog.com/2025/02/25/coons-cotton-reintroduce-restore-act-injunctive-relief/id=186590/ Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and Tom Cotton (R-AR) have reintroduced the RESTORE Patent Rights Act of 2025, a bill designed to reinstate the rebuttable presumption that patent owners are entitled to injunctions when their patents are infringed. This legislation would amend Section 283 of U.S. patent law by making it clear that once a patent holder wins an infringement case, the court should issue an injunction unless the infringer can prove why it should not be granted. The bill was first introduced in July 2024, and after a Senate Subcommittee hearing in December, it has now been reintroduced with bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. The motivation behind the bill stems from the 2006 Supreme Court ruling in eBay v. MercExchange, which weakened the ability of patent owners to obtain injunctions, instead requiring them to prove that monetary damages were insufficient. Since that ruling, the number of permanent injunction requests has dropped significantly, with a 65% decline for companies that manufacture their own patented products and a 90% decline for licensing patent owners such as universities and research clinics. Supporters of the RESTORE Act argue that this shift has disproportionately benefited large corporations, particularly in Big Tech, while making it harder for independent inventors and small businesses to protect their intellectual property. Former USPTO Director Andrei Iancu has praised the bill, stating that it will provide inventors with the confidence they need to drive American leadership in key technology fields. Innovation Alliance Executive Director Brian Pomper emphasized that a simple, single-sentence clarification of the law would bring balance back to the patent system and ensure that small inventors can stand up to major corporations that infringe on their patents. Patrick Kilbride, a policy fellow at the Center for American Principles, added that the bill reinforces the fundamental right of patent holders to stop unauthorized use of their inventions. Critics of the bill argue that the eBay decision has had a net positive effect on the patent system by preventing automatic injunctions that could be used as leverage in litigation. Some legal experts believe that injunctive relief is still available when necessary and that the proposed changes could tilt the system too far in favor of patent holders. However, proponents counter that the lack of injunctions has led to prolonged and costly litigation, with infringers often choosing to delay licensing agreements or settlements rather than immediately ceasing their unauthorized use of patented technology. Although the RESTORE Act was not included in last year’s legislative markups, its reintroduction signals a renewed effort to reshape patent law and restore stronger protections for inventors. Whether the bill gains traction in Congress remains to be seen, but its potential impact on patent enforcement and innovation will be closely watched by the inventor community. Let us know your thoughts—should patent owners have an automatic right to injunctions when their patents are infringed?

Posted by InventorNews at 2025-02-27 15:30:40 UTC