North Carolina signed a bill into law last week aimed at preventing bad faith assertions of patent infringement. This law targets non-practicing entities: companies that own a suite of patents which are used solely for legal action and are not used to produce a product. 11 other states have already enacted similar legislation, and another 13 are considering it, showing a growing impatience with federal lawmakers. North Carolina’s new law stipulates that companies alleging patent infringement must comply to new requirements including references to specific patents as well as specific cases of patent infringement.
