Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced legislation Monday he said...
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced legislation Monday he said would expand a Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) review program and curb abuses by patent assertion entities, which he referred to as “patent trolls.” The Patent Quality Improvement Act would expand…
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and make permanent the temporary Schumer-Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., program included in Section 18 of the America Invents Act (AIA). The program established a post-patent grant review process conducted by PTO experts and allows a petitioner to request a PTO review of a covered patent. The program, which deals with business method patents related to financial products and services, would expand to include more technology start-up companies. About 20 patents have been challenged through the PTO review system since AIA took effect, the Democratic Policy & Communications Center, of which Schumer is chairman. A spokesman for the center said the legislation has not yet been assigned a bill number, and is likely to be referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. The PTO review system gives patent holders and accused patent infringers an alternative to the court system, deterring patent trolls by offering a “cost-effective option to knock out bad patents,” the center said in a news release. The legislation would “make it easier for companies to fight back against frivolous lawsuits” by PAEs, said CEA President Gary Shapiro Monday in a statement. “By enabling defendants to seek review of a patent’s validity, the bill creates a quick cost-effective alternative to litigation.” The bill, when combined with the Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes Act (HR-845), will help “drive patent trolls back under the bridge,” Shapiro said.