Chairman Goodlatte Reintroduces Patent Troll Legislation | ANA Government Relations | ANA

Chairman Goodlatte Reintroduces Patent Troll Legislation

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) has reintroduced the bipartisan Innovation Reform Act of 2015. This is the same legislation that passed the House in 2013 by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 325-91, but was removed from the Senate Judiciary Committee calendar in May of 2014 by then-chairman Patrick Leahy.  That legislation was supported by a wide range of groups that include stakeholders from all areas of the economy including businesses and independent inventors and innovators.  

Among those joining Chairman Goodlatte on the bill are Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Ranking Member Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.), and Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).

The legislation builds on reforms that were made in the America Invents Act and addresses certain abusive practices taking place in some courts.  The bill is meant to crack down on so-called patent trolls by requiring lawsuit plaintiffs to specify which patents are at issue and what products they allegedly infringe and by allowing a court to require the loser in a patent case to pay the winner's costs if the case was not reasonably justified.