The Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters (TROL) Act...
The Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters (TROL) Act (HR-4450) does not “adequately” solve the problem of vague and misleading patent demand letters, said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., in opening remarks at a House Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade Subcommittee markup Wednesday.…
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The bill is intended to curb the practice of so-called “patent trolls” -- entities that enforce patents without producing products -- sending confusing and deceptive patent demand letters to businesses, requesting money to settle possible patent infringements (CD July 9 p15). “The Trol Act’s broad preemption of state laws would prevent the enforcement of tough anti-troll acts where they do exist,” she said. State attorneys general should have been consulted more while drafting the measure to avoid this problem, Schakowsky said. The bill has also “raised serious concerns at the FTC,” she said. The legislation would put the FTC in charge of bringing enforcement actions against companies for sending deceptive demand letters. But the FTC was “not in the room” while the bill’s language was drawn up, Schakowsky said. “Patent trolls should not be able to extort American businessmen and women,” she said. But as currently written, the TROL Act will not solve that problem, said Schakowsky. Industry groups have largely supported the bill. (See separate report in this issue.)