There has been some recent suggestion from the Department of Commerce and this current Administration that they would impose a 1-5% fee on U.S. patents based on their value in order to raise tens of billions of dollars for the government. The questions and reactions to this proposal are innumerable as how this would be implemented and who could assess the value are already mind-boggling questions.  

Can you imagine the effect this could have on patent litigation damages?  The assessed value of a U.S. patent will become a very important datapoint in calculating damages for infringement, and the assessed value of a U.S. patent could carry a lot of weight with a judge or jury looking at patent damages. This only heightens the scrutiny on how such a plan would be implemented, who would assess the value, and whether the patent holder could appeal the assessment.  If this plan goes through, patent litigation damages could potentially be upended. 

The Department of Commerce appears to be considering a major change to the U.S. patent system. Without getting too technical, the idea is to charge a fee for U.S. patents based on their value (currently they’re only charged a modest fee to cover the cost of processing).

www.bizjournals.com/...