Responding to yesterday’s introduction of H.R. 4279, the “Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007” (PROIPA) in the House of Representatives, Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) President & CEO Ed Black expressed concerns about the legislation. The following statement may be attributed to Mr. Black:
“Our intellectual property laws should penalize pirates, not pioneers. PROIPA moves us in the wrong direction. Rather than increasing the enforcement of IP rights against piracy and counterfeiting at home and abroad, aspects of PROIPA increase the risk that innnovative U.S. businesses will be baselessly persecuted and subjected to frivolous litigation. We look forward to working with the Judiciary Committee and all stakeholders to achieve legislation that protects U.S. IP rights and the public from infringement and counterfeiting, rather than encouraging IP trolls to play the litigation lottery.”
“As IP grows more important and more complex in our society, it becomes even more imperative that legislation account for the interests of all stakeholders. IP laws must be crafted such that their aggressive enforcement produces just results. The patents debacle has shown that the growth of our information-technology based economy can easily be hobbled by the unintended consequences and collateral damage resulting from unbalanced intellectual property law.”