OPINION:
The United States has reached the grim milestone of half a million deaths caused by COVID-19. Seniors, Americans 65 and older, have accounted for 8 out of 10 of those lost lives.
Without telemedicine that toll could have been even greater, making it especially important that seniors’ access to technology is protected from self-serving, profit-motivated corporate litigation.
Telemedicine services, which depend on high-speed broadband, have literally been a lifesaver during the pandemic. By using their smartphones, tablets or computers to handle their health care issues, seniors have been able to manage conditions, get advice from experts, or even receive virtual care without running the risk of possible virus exposure in a medical facility.
A July 2020 survey found a 300% increase in Medicare-eligible seniors using telemedicine services during the pandemic. Three out of four seniors used online resources to research Medicare options. One-third of seniors ordered their prescriptions from online pharmacies and 28% monitored their health with wearable devices, keeping themselves healthier without leaving home.
Seniors have fully embraced high-tech devices. The same survey indicated that 89% of seniors own a smartphone and 68% have an iPad or other type of tablet. Anything that impedes access to those devices directly impacts seniors. Especially now, as we appear to still be months away from beating the pandemic, it is crucial that nothing stands between seniors and technology.
Unfortunately, one roadblock to continued advancement of telemedicine and lifesaving technology that we’ve seen before is popping up again, in the form of profit-motivated patent infringement suits wrongly filed at the International Trade Commission (ITC) by patent trolls and opportunistic companies acting like trolls.
The latest example of ITC misuse comes from Ericsson in its ITC filing asking for an exclusion order against Samsung that would bar the U.S. importation of many of Samsung’s communication devices Ericsson alleges that Samsung has infringed on its patent rights. Obviously, because Samsung is a major producer and provider of connected devices, denying Samsung access to the U.S. market would seriously diminish the product choices available to American consumers.
Taking Samsung to court is nothing new for Ericsson. In fact, Ericsson has a long history of using the courts to battle rival tech companies instead of trying to compete with them by offering consumers better products or lower prices.
Ericsson’s actions mimic those employed by patent trolls, companies that are in the business of trumping up litigation based on dubious patent infringement claims, not to actually protect their patent rights but instead to persuade legitimate businesses to pay them off in exchange for dropping the lawsuits. Because going to court can be so expensive and time consuming, many companies just give up and settle, even when they have done nothing wrong.
Two things make the current Ericsson case especially disturbing. One is the use (or more correctly misuse) of the ITC to run their scheme. Courts should be in charge of settling patent infringement issues. The ITC was never designed to be the mediator of private patent disputes; its name tells you its purpose — helping U.S. stakeholders with international trade.
The second thing is that exclusion orders like the one Ericsson is pushing for are really bad for consumers. Many of those impacted consumers would be seniors, who need unfettered access to communications technologies more than ever in the era of COVID-19.
The challenges of patent litigation abuse have managed to stay under the radar for far too long. It is essential that all consumers start paying attention to this problem and demand action to bring it under control. Congress can reform the ITC to make it less vulnerable to being dragged into frivolous patent infringement cases, and pass legislation doing that as quickly as possible.
• James L. Martin is founder of the 60 Plus Association. Saul Anuzis is president of the 60 Plus Association.
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