{"id":1585,"date":"2013-03-27T19:15:19","date_gmt":"2013-03-27T19:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncjolt.org\/?p=1585"},"modified":"2020-06-04T20:54:02","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T20:54:02","slug":"creating-a-small-claims-proceeding-for-intellectual-property-right-enforcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/blogs\/creating-a-small-claims-proceeding-for-intellectual-property-right-enforcement\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating a Small Claims Proceeding for Intellectual Property Right Enforcement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, March 27, 2013, by Seiko Okada
\nThe United States Copyright Office is seeking public comments<\/a> as to whether the U. S. should establish a copyright small claims adjudication system.\u00a0 Concurrently, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (\u201cUSPTO\u201d) is seeking public comments<\/a> as to creating a small claims proceeding for patent enforcement.
\nIdeas behind patent and copyright small claims courts are similar: to facilitate enforcement of infringement claims with small economic value.\u00a0 In the U.S., all patent or copyright infringement cases are heard in a Federal District court.\u00a0 It ordinarily does not make much sense to file a lawsuit when there is less than $1,000,000<\/a> at stake.
\nEach agency wants to assess<\/a> a desire and need for a small claims proceeding, as well as its scope and core characteristics, including subject matter jurisdiction, venue, case management, appellate review, available remedies, and conformity with the U.S. constitutional framework.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe current system fails to guarantee economical enforcement to all deserving patent or copyright holders.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Creating an inexpensive small claims court system seems promising<\/a> in addressing current problems, helping individuals, small businesses, large businesses, and the court system itself.\u00a0 First, an option for a patent or copyright holder to file in a small claims court motivates ex ante<\/i> behavior<\/a> that more predictably avoid lawsuit, including good faith pre-suit negotiations. \u00a0Second, an availability of inexpensive small claims proceedings decreases the transaction costs<\/a> of whatever lawsuits cannot be avoided.\u00a0 Third, the existence of such an enforcement forum would also reduce overall federal court burdens<\/a>.\u00a0 Lastly, unblocking access to the courts for a deserving subset of patent or copyright holders will have the salutary effect of encouraging innovation<\/a>, which, in turn, will help consumers.
\nDeciding on specific scopes and detailed characteristics of a small claims court system, however, is a challenge.\u00a0 For example, a voluntary<\/a> small claims resolution system may not be effectively utilized.\u00a0 On the other hand, a mandatory<\/a> system raises constitutional concerns including infringement with the seventh amendment right to a jury trial and with the due process right to non-abbreviated procedures. \u00a0A related consideration is who would be the judges.\u00a0 The scope and function of non-article III courts would be limited by constitution (as articulated in CFTC v. Schor<\/i><\/a>, 478 U.S. 833 (1986)).\u00a0 Delegating to state small court systems may be a practical option, but may not be a good idea<\/a> in terms of federal law expertise.\u00a0 Yet another consideration is whether a small claims court is authorized to grant an injunctive relief.\u00a0 While many patent or copyright holders would want it, injunctive relief could be a complicated undertaking<\/a> in a small claims context.\u00a0 When the unauthorized use is but one part of a larger work such as film, book, or sound recording, for example, plaintiff\u2019s monetary damage may be small but the economic consequences of an injunction may exceed any damage cap<\/a> adopted for the small claims process.
\nThe Copyright Office is accepting comments about copyright small claims proceedings until April 12, 2013<\/a>.\u00a0 The USPTO is accepting comments about patent small claims proceedings until April 30, 2013<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, March 27, 2013, by Seiko Okada The United States Copyright Office is seeking public comments as to whether the U. S. should establish a copyright small claims adjudication system.\u00a0 Concurrently, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (\u201cUSPTO\u201d) is seeking public comments as to creating a small claims proceeding for patent enforcement. Ideas behind …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1585"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7609,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585\/revisions\/7609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}