President Obama spoke about the patent system in his State of the Union address last night. From a White House fact sheet: Protecting American Innovation from Patent Trolls. Our patent system is enshrined in our Constitution to encourage invention and to reward Americans for their hard work and risk-taking; but in recent years, that system has also seen an explosion of abusive patent litigation designed not to reward innovation but to threaten companies based on questionable claims. There are a growing number of companies, commonly called “patent trolls,” who employ these litigation tactics as a business model — abusing the system’s strong protections, costing the economy billions of dollars, and undermining American innovation. In February, President Obama challenged the Administration and Congress to take on this issue, and in June announced a blueprint to protect companies from trolls’ predatory tactics. In his State of the Union address the President renewed his call for Congress to pass patent legislation, which enjoys strong bipartisan support. In the coming weeks, he will announce progress on Administration initiatives on patent reform to simplify and strengthen our patent system for a 21st century economy — helping companies focus on innovation, not litigation.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 15:52:32 +0000