The White House endorsed the Patent Transparency and...
The White House endorsed the Patent Transparency and Improvements Act (S-1720) Monday, with National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling calling the bill a “big step in the right direction.” The bill, introduced Monday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy,…
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D-Vt., and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, shows that “both chambers of Congress share the President’s goal of encouraging innovation, not needless litigation, by reducing abusive patent trolls lawsuits,” Sperling said in a statement. S-1720 reflects many of the legislative recommendations the White House released in June, Sperling said. Those recommendations came in conjunction with a set of executive actions tasking the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office with addressing patent abuses (CD June 5 p12). S-1720 drew support from many industry groups Monday and Tuesday, with National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith saying in a statement that the bill would “combat ‘patent trolls’ that are a drain on both the U.S. economy and the broadcast industry. This legislation deters those entities that acquire patents primarily as a litigation tool while protecting the true innovators who keep our economy moving forward.” Computer & Communications Industry Association President Ed Black said in a statement Tuesday that S-1720 “provides key reforms that will curb some of the worst abuses of the patent system. The abusive conduct in this area requires legislation sufficient to address the broad scope and dimensions of the problems that exist.” A Public Knowledge spokesman said in a statement Monday that the bill “shows that there is a general consensus growing on the Hill that demand letters, when abusively asserted, negatively impact the economy, innovation, and consumers. The Patent Transparency and Improvements Act of 2013 is a practical step in reforming the patent system in a way that empowers those who want to bring new technologies to Americans and for those who need to access them.” S-1720 also mirrors some aspects of the Innovation Act (HR-3309), which the House Judiciary Committee is set to vote on Wednesday.