Virginia lawmaker takes on patent trolls
Zach Graves, policy analyst at the R Street Institute, is more concerned about the need for promising developments on the state level to be followed by federal action.
“While there are important reforms the states can tackle on the consumer protection side addressing transparency and demand letters, many key areas are out of their reach due to federal supremacy,” Graves told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
“In particular, we’d like to see federal legislation with a basket of civil litigation reforms much like [Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte’s] Innovation Act–for example, reasonable fee shifting, ending discovery abuse, heightened pleading, end-user protection, and transparency of ownership. We’d also like to see measures addressing patent quality and clarity, and we fully expect the patent issue to come back next year.”
R Street Institute associate fellow Steven Titch also added that “one of the biggest complaints from patent defendants is that demand letter provide very little detail when they sue for infringement, yet raise the fear of a costly legal fight. What reformers want to see from plaintiffs are specifics about the patented intellectual property, manufacturing process, software or other such details when they make their claim.”
“This would put a dent in frivolous claims while still allowing the law to continue to protect legitimate patent holders, who should easily be able to provide these details,” he continued.
