New Patent Reform Bill Targets So-called Trolls
New patent reform legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday aims to make it more difficult for so-called patent trolls to file infringement lawsuits.
The Innovation Act, sponsored by Representative Bob Goodlatte, incorporates provisions in several other bills, introduced in recent months, targeting patent-licensing businesses that use infringement lawsuits as a major source of potential revenue. Tech groups have called in recent months for Congress to discourage the growing number of infringement lawsuits filed by patent-licensing firms, and several trade groups, along with digital rights groups Public Knowledge and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, praised Goodlatte’s bill.
The bill’s several provisions will “really help put an end to this dangerous business model that threatens us all,” said Julie Samuels, an EFF senior staff attorney.”Taken together, what they will do is make that business model a less attractive business model.”
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