AB 656

This bill regulates written communications attempting to enforce or assert

rights in connection with a patent or pending patent. Under the bill, such a written

communication is called a "patent notification." Under the bill, a "target" of a patent

notification is an individual who is a resident of this state or a company that is

domiciled in or does substantial business in this state and who either receives a

patent notification or has customers who receive a patent notification concerning a

product, service, process, or technology of the target.

Under the bill, a patent notification must contain certain information,

including the number and a copy of each patent or pending patent that is the subject

of the patent notification; an identification of each patent claim being asserted and

the target's product, service, process, or technology to which that claim relates; and

the basis for each theory of each patent claim being asserted and how that claim

relates to the target's product, service, process, or technology. The bill provides a

30-day opportunity for a person to supplement a patent notification with any

required information the person fails to include in the initial patent notification. A

patent notification may not contain false, misleading, or deceptive information.

The bill provides that the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer

Protection (DATCP) or the attorney general may investigate an alleged violation of

the bill's requirements. The bill authorizes the attorney general to initiate a court

action for an injunction of a violation of the bill's requirements, and in such an action,

the bill authorizes the court to make any necessary orders to restore to any person

any pecuniary loss the person may have suffered as a result of the violation. The bill

also authorizes the attorney general to seek a forfeiture to the state of up to $50,000

for each violation of the bill's requirements.

The bill further creates a private right of action for a target or other person

aggrieved by a violation of the bill's requirements. The target or other person may

seek an injunction restraining further violation and may recover an appropriate

award of damages, an award of costs and reasonable attorney fees, and an award of

punitive damages not to exceed $50,000 for each violation or three times the

aggregate amount of actual damages and costs and attorney fees awarded by the

court, whichever is greater.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime,

the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a

report concerning the proposed penalty and the costs or savings that are likely to

result if the bill is enacted.