Free-market groups support Goodlatte’s Innovation Act
WASHINGTON (Dec. 4, 2013) – Legislation set to be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives would crack down on frivolous patent lawsuits that are “imposing a significant tax on investment and entrepreneurship,” a coalition of free-market groups argues in a letter to Congress.
Offered in support of the Innovation Act, sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., the letter commends the bill for shifting fees to losers of patent suits; adopting pleading standards that appropriately identify alleged infringements; improving transparency about who owns disputed patents; and reducing abuse of the discovery process.
“Unfortunately, the current litigation environment surrounding our patent system frequently stifles innovation the Constitution sought to protect, and at a substantial economic cost,” the groups write. “So-called ‘patent trolls’ are entities that hoard overly broad patents, but do not use them to make goods or services. Instead, these entities maliciously threaten small businesses, inventors and even consumers through rampant and costly litigation abuse.”
The letter’s signatories include the R Street Institute, Generation Opportunity, Americans for Tax Reform, Americans for Prosperity, the American Consumer Institute, Digital Liberty, the Discovery Institute, the Center for Individual Freedom and Frontiers of Freedom.
The full text of the letter can be found here:
http://www.rstreet.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/patentletterfinal.pdf
