DeFazio and Chaffetz Introduce Legislation to Combat Patent Trolls | ANA Government Relations | ANA

DeFazio and Chaffetz Introduce Legislation to Combat Patent Trolls

Late last week, Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR/4) and Jason Chaffetz (R-UT/3) introduced legislation that would deal with so-called “patent trolls,” a growing problem for the advertising industry. Patent trolls (also known as non-practicing entities or NPEs) purchase patents created by others on the open market and then profit from those patents by suing those using the patented technology for infringement.  Their legislation, “Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes Act of 2013 (H.R. 845),” would allow for the recovery of the costs of litigation by anyone that can prove they were wrongly sued for patent infringement.  

ANA and the 4A’s have set up a special task force that is looking into the issue.

If you have any questions, you can reach Dan Jaffe in ANA’s Washington office at 202-296-2359 or at djaffe@ana.net.