Washington – A growing list of industries harmed by patent trolls has sent a letter to House and Senate Judiciary leaders asking for help with a key tool to combat patent trolls. The Computer & Communications Industry Association along with dozens of other associations including the National Retail Federation, National Grocers Association, American Gaming Association, Printing Industries of America and the American Hotel and Lodging Association told lawmakers they need an effective alternative to litigation to challenge the low quality business method patents increasingly used by patent trolls.
The number of companies being sued with business method patents has increased 28 percent a year on average since 2004. In the letter, the groups ask that the patent reform legislation before Congress include provisions to make the Covered Business Method review program available to more industries. This would give businesses a more cost-effective tool to disarm patent trolls who use vague, overly broad patents.
The following can be attributed to CCIA President & CEO Ed Black:
“While we are pleased to have the support in this reform effort of so many representatives from many sectors of business, it is a sad testament to the reality of how the misuse of poor quality patents has metastasized throughout our economy.”
The letter and signatories can be found here: http://www.ccianet.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Orgs-Letter-to-Congress-on-CBM.pdf