100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB4052
 
Introduced , by Rep. Keith R. Wheeler
 
SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 

 
New Act

     Creates the Ethics in Patent Litigation Act. Prohibits an attorney from receiving any compensation directly or indirectly for legal services related to litigation derived from a patent owned by the attorney, either individually or through an entity owned or controlled by the attorney.  Provides, however, that an attorney may receive compensation for patent litigation derived from a patent owned by the attorney if the attorney or an entity owned or controlled by the attorney is actively engaged in producing a product or service for marketing and sale from the invention claimed by the patent.
  


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A BILL FOR
 

  
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1    AN ACT concerning attorneys.
  
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
 
3represented in the General Assembly:
  
 
 
4    Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Ethics 
5in Patent Litigation Act.
 
6    Section 5. Public policy. The State of Illinois declares as 
7a matter of public policy the following:
8        (1) attorneys admitted to practice law in Illinois are 
9    held to high ethical standards;
10        (2) current ethical standards prohibit attorneys from 
11    taking a financial interest in an underlying case and from 
12    splitting their fees with a non-attorney;
13        (3) the recent practice of attorneys personally 
14    acquiring the legal rights of their clients' patents and 
15    litigating on behalf of those patent rights in order to 
16    earn personal remuneration above and beyond the 
17    compensation for legal services is a violation of the high 
18    ethical standards for attorneys; and
19        (4) these concerning practices are particularly 
20    problematic in patent litigation where the threat of 
21    litigation from attorneys who have acquired patent rights 
22    from their clients have forced many of the country's most 
23    innovative technology companies to pay in the aggregate 
 
 
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1    more than $30,000,000,000 by some estimates to avoid the 
2    cost and risk of litigation, no matter how spurious the 
3    claim.
 
4    Section 10. Prohibition on certain compensation for 
5litigation services relating to patents.  No attorney shall 
6receive any compensation directly or indirectly for any legal 
7services related to litigation derived from any patent owned by 
8the attorney, either individually or through an entity owned or 
9controlled by that attorney. However, an attorney may receive 
10compensation for patent litigation derived from a patent owned 
11by the attorney if the attorney or the entity owned or 
12controlled by the attorney is actively engaged in producing a 
13product or service for marketing and sale from the invention 
14claimed by the patent.