Less than five years after passing the America Invents Act (“AIA”), both the House and Senate have introduced bills to further reform the Patent Act, specifically in response to addressing the issue of abusive litigation by “patent trolls.” In the House, “The Innovation Act,” H.R. 9, was introduced in February, 2015. This bipartisan bill largely parallels legislation the House passed during the last Congress that ultimately died in the Senate. The House will likely pass this bill in the very near future, sending it again to the Senate. In the Senate, in May, 2015, the “Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship Act,” or PATENT Act, S. 1137, was introduced. This bill also has bipartisan support and was recently approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Overall, both bills are quite similar as they both have the same general intent: to limit baseless, abusive litigation by trolls. However, there are some significant substantive differences between the bills in how this goal is reached. These differences focus primarily on the areas of fee shifting and recovery; pre-litigation demand letters by patent owners; claim construction during AIA review proceedings; and venue.

Loser Pays…

Continue Reading More Patent Reform on the Horizon in Washington