Re: Oil States Does Not Address the Due Process Clause or Retroactivity
My career involved almost 30 years in the criminal justice system in California. The last several years involved reading appellate court decisions and writing policy for my department based upon those decisions. In that system. a defendant could not be held responsible for violating a law that was not in effect when the violation occurred. Neither could a defendant be punished pursuant to a sentencing statute more punitive than the one in effect when the offense occurred. Lets hope that the same logic is applied by the Courts concerning the lack of retroactivity of the I.P.R. system. An inventor who has spent thousands, if not millions of dollars, obtaining and defending a patent, should hopefully be granted protection at least equal to that provided a criminal offender.