US subcommittee discusses TROL Act
A US government committee has discussed how to improve a bill aimed at curbing abusive patent demand letters.
The Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, a branch of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, heard from interested parties yesterday (April 16) on how the Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters (TROL) Act could be improved.
Last July the subcommittee, which is based in the House of Representatives, approved the bill with a 13-6 majority but is assessing it again in order to make amendments.
If it is approved by Congress, the act will give the Federal Trade Commission the power to pursue companies that demand excessive licensing fees and threaten lawsuits in bad faith, sometimes known as ‘patent trolls’.
Subcommittee chairman Michael Burgess said during the discussion: “Last year, the subcommittee held a series of negotiations resulting in the draft legislation before us.
“Although, the draft bill passed our subcommittee with bi-partisan support, I believe narrow amendments could still achieve better protections for recipients of demand letters.”
According to the subcommittee's website, people attending the hearing spoke of their concern about striking a balance between protecting businesses from abusive patent demand letters and ensuring right owners are not restricted from legitimately asserting their intellectual property rights.
Diane Lettelleir, senior managing counsel for retailer JC Penney, spoken on behalf of the recently formed United for Patent Reform.
The organisation was set up by Google, Amazon and other companies to put pressure on Congress to pass reforms to the US patent system.
Lettelleir praised the efforts by politicians to tackle abusive demand letters.
“Abusive patent enforcement tactics have a detrimental impact on innovation, job creation and the integrity of our patent system,” she said.
Gregory Dolin, associate professor of law at Baltimore University, said the TROL Act is a “commendable response to the proliferation of state-based provisions seeking to regulate demand letters”.
But Dolin voiced concerns about introducing changes that may increase the costs for patent owners when asserting their rights.
The TROL act will now move on to the full Energy and Commerce Committee.
