R Street welcomes bill to crack down on patent trolls
WASHINGTON (Feb. 5, 2015) – The R Street Institute welcomed today’s re-introduction by House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., of the Innovation Act, which will address the problem of bad actors (also known as “patent trolls”) exploiting the patent litigation system unfairly to extort payments from genuine innovators.
Joining Chairman Goodlatte in a bipartisan effort to reform the patent system are Reps. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore.; Darrell Issa, R-Calif.; Anna Eshoo, D-Calif.; and Lamar Smith, R-Texas.
Under the Innovation Act, standards will be raised for “initial pleadings” by patent holders who claim infringement, requiring more detail about which patents are allegedly infringed and in what ways. It also proposes standards for when the losing party of a patent infringement case can be asked to pay the victor’s legal fees.
The bill would allow courts to join parties that have interest in the patents in question and to limit discovery until the patentee has constructed its claim. It also would permit manufacturers to intervene in suits against end users of their products.
“This bill is a promising step toward updating the America Invents Act to address a broader range of issues and aiming not only to foster innovation, but also to protect legitimate patent issues,” said Mike Godwin, director of innovation policy at R Street. “Such a need is so widely recognized, it’s no surprise to see such strong bipartisan support for the bill.”
The bill is Chairman Goodlatte’s renewal of identical legislation from the 113th Congress, which passed with overwhelming support in the U.S. House, but was stalled in the Senate.
