The U.S. Supreme Court last
week became the latest battleground in the war between software and big tech
companies that want to weaken patents and groups like biopharma companies, VCs
and universities that rely on strong patent protection.
SCOTUS heard oral arguments in Microsoft
Corp. v. i4i Limited Partnership et al. If Microsoft wins its bid to make
it easier to invalidate patents in courts, patent attorneys contacted by
BioCentury think the floodgates could open for lawsuits where lay juries would
decide the validity of biotech patents. As a corollary, VCs would have a much
harder time assessing the IP protection on new technologies.