For the past several years, the United States Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit have crafted many patent doctrines that have weakened the scope of patent protection.

One key signpost along the way is the 2006 Supreme court decision in Ebay v. MercExchange, (against which I have already inveighed in this column) which rejected an older that made injunctions for patent infringement the remedy of course except in extraordinary circumstances, and replaced it with a flexible four-part test that increases the likelihood that the patent holder will be forced to settle for damages.