Intel recently sued Fortress for antitrust violations based upon its alleged monopolistic aggregation of patents. Intel’s allegations mirror those by Capital One against Intellectual Ventures, which were recently rejected by the Federal Circuit. Over the past several years, any patent assertion has had to contend with certain expected defenses: Alice, IPRs, threats of Octane Fitness. Are antitrust counterclaims the next trend?
Read MoreThe Federal Circuit recently ruled on a case brought by Intellectual Ventures against Capital One ($COF). The case is Intellectual Ventures I LLC v. Capital One Financial Corp., 2018-1367 (Fed. Cir. Sep. 10, 2019). While the underlying case arose out of IV’s assertion of its patents against Capital One, the appeal focuses on Capital One’s counterclaim that IV was an unlawful monopolist by aggregating a series of patents and asserting them through litigation. Capital One lost the appeal. But the question remains – how much teeth do antitrust counterclaims have against aggregating and enforcing patents through litigation?
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