Alexander Poltorak, GPC's Chairman and CEO as well as Founder and President of American Innovators for Patent Reform, answered questions about the effect the Senate's recently-passed patent reform bill will have on inventors if it becomes law ("Q&A: Small inventors raise patent overhaul concerns", Washington Post, March 28, 2011).
March 9, 2011 - Following the Senate's vote in favor of the Patent Reform Act of 2011, the San Francisco Chronicle interviewed Alexander Poltorak, GPC's Chairman and CEO as well as the Founder and Chairman of American Innovators for Patent Reform (AIPR).
In the following excerpt from "Silicon Valley: Patent reform passed by Senate", Dr. Poltorak explains the silver lining in the bill's passage:
Alexander Poltorak was quoted in "Senate Takes Up Patent Reform" (National Journal, February 28, 2011).
Dr. Poltorak commented on the proposal to change the U.S. patent system from first-to-invent to first-to-file - a major change designed to bring the U.S. patent regime in line with foreign patent systems:
In this op-ed piece, Patent reform act of 2011 will deter innovation and send jobs overseas (EE Times, February 25, 2011), Alexander Poltorak explains the many ways American innovation will suffer if the Patent Reform Act of 2011 becomes law.
GPC's Alexander Poltorak was quoted in Nokia-Microsoft tie-up could shift mobile patent wars (CNET.com, February 11, 2011).
Responding to the suggestion that Apple and Nokia might team up against Google/Android, "Alexander Poltorak, CEO of General Patent Corporation, says he sees no real possibility of that happening, for antitrust reasons and because of the self-interest of Microsoft, Nokia, and Apple."
A victory for GPC's client company DTL was the subject of a recent Law360 article, "Kyocera Denied Stay In DTL Cell Phone Patent Suit" (Law360, February 10, 2011 - subscription required).
Article excerpt:
Third-party defendant Kyocera Communications Inc. has failed to stay Digital Technology Licensing LLC’s infringement suit against Sprint Nextel Corp. pending the reexamination of DTL’s widely-asserted cell phone patent.
Speaking about the resurrected Patent Reform Act in "Patent Reform Bill (Yet Again) Makes It to Senate Floor" (Wall Street Journal Law Blog, February 8, 2011), Alexander Poltorak comments that changing from a "first-to-invent" standard to a "first-to-file" standard would be harmful for small inventors and have a negative effect on patent quality.
GPC's Alexander Poltorak was correct in his prediction, in a previous interview, that Broadcom would be among the next companies to settle with Wi-LAN after the Canadian patent holding company settled with Intel earlier this month. Wi-LAN announced the Broadcom settlement on January 20, and the agreement will be finalized within the next few weeks.
Alexander Poltorak is quoted in "Wi-LAN shares soar on news of Intel deal" (Financial Post, January 18, 2010). Commenting on a prediction that Broadcom Corp. and Atheros Communications Inc. would be the next to settle among the many companies Wi-LAN sued, Dr. Poltorak said, "I would bet on the case settling [before trial]."
"Wi-LAN settles patent dispute with world's biggest chipmaker, Intel" (Canadian Business Online, January 14, 2011) - Alexander Poltorak comments on what the Intel settlement - and the number of patents at suit - means for Wi-LAN's future litigation.
In part, Dr. Poltorak says, "Juries aren't always sympathetic when there are so many patents involved, and it's less risky to settle such a dispute."