Lucree v. United States

Challenge to Congress’s authority to impose patent maintenance fees under the Intellectual Property Clause of the Constitution, art. I, § 8, cl. 8; claim akin to illegal exaction; takings claim

OPINION AND ORDER

LETTOW, Judge.

Plaintiff Teresa Nan Lueree seeks to recover damages from the United States for the early expiration of her patent in 2010, which resulted from her failure to pay statutorily-mandated maintenance fees. 1 In her complaint, Ms. Lueree challenges Congress’s authority to impose maintenance fees and argues that the practice results in an illegal exaction and a taking of private…