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Qui Tam Actions in Senate Sights

By Donald Zuhn, Kevin Noonan, Chris Singer, Sherri Oslick, and Jason Derry

Manager's Amendment of S. 515 Would Eliminate Most Suits By Kevin E. Noonan -- Over the past few weeks, close to perhaps one hundred actions, characterized as "qui tam" (or whistleblower) lawsuits have been filed against several large companies (including 3M, Monster Cable Products, S.C. Johnson & Co., Proctor & Gamble Co., and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). These actions are based on alleged violation of 35 U.S.C. § 292(b), the "false marking" portion of the patent statute that makes it a violation to intentionally mark an item in commerce with a patent number that has expired or does not protect the...

Full post as published by Patent Docs on March 04, 2010 (boomark / email).