摘要：Patent infringement suit claims of inequitable conduct before the Patent Office and claims of patent misuse are staple affirmative defenses in patent practice. Defendants' frequent invocation of the inequitable conduct and patent misuse doctrines causes patentee-plaintiffs to consider the possibility that a court will find the patent unenforceable in accord with those doctrines. The authors of The Antitrust Counterattack in Patent Infringement Litigation ("The Antitrust Counterattack") offer another reason to contemplate the possible effects of a claim of fraud in patent procurement or bad-faith enforcement: the same actions that lead to a finding of inequitable conduct or patent misuse may also satisfy the requirements for a treble damages recovery under antitrust law.
