Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, introduced the Patent Litigation...
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, introduced the Patent Litigation Integrity Act (S-1612), saying in a statement that the bill would “address the growing threat of so-called ‘patent trolls.'” The bill would require courts to award “reasonable” attorney fees and other expenses…
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to the party that wins in a patent litigation case unless the losing party’s legal position and conduct were “substantially justified” or in special cases where shifting fees would be unjust. The bill would also allow the defendant in a patent case to seek a motion to require the plaintiff to post a bond that would cover attorney fees and other legal expenses. The judge would have discretion to determine whether posting a bond would be unfairly burdensome for the plaintiff, such as when the plaintiff is an institution of higher learning (http://1.usa.gov/1ap2peZ). BSA/The Software Alliance praised the bill Wednesday. Tim Molino, director-government relations, said in a letter to Hatch that the bill “gets to the heart of the problem we face today by correcting imbalances in the legal system that give the non-practicing entities commonly known as ’trolls’ undue leverage over the legitimate companies they target” (http://bit.ly/1aEihGL). Dish Network Deputy General Counsel Jeffrey Blum said in a statement that the bill “will help spur innovation, and address the growing problem of frivolous patent litigation."