WASHINGTON, D.C. – It took the leaders of the new United for Patent Reform coalition, of which NACS is a founding member, about 15 minutes to come up with the name, but their fight to rein in “patent trolls” has been ongoing for years, writes The Hill.
The month-old coalition, comprised of retailers, technology giants and others, formed to lobby Congress to reform the patent litigation system, to cut down on “trolls” that buy up patents with the intention of extracting settlements by threatening to sue.
Since launching in mid-January, the patent group has hired a number of lobbyists and consultants and is preparing advertising campaigns and events in lawmakers’ home states. Its member organizations hold six to a dozen meetings a day on Capitol Hill regarding the issue, according to the coalition. Preparations to organize the broad coalition began late last year after it became clear that legislation would not make it to Obama’s desk last Congress.
As for the coalition’s name, “It was like a 10- [or] 15-minute conversation when we went in, and it all sort of came together,” said NACS Director of Government Relations Paige Anderson, who sits on the patent group’s executive committee. “If you look at the members that are part of this, you would think it would be very unwieldy. We are a very diverse group of companies. But the reality is because we are facing the same challenges and same obstacles by these patent trolls, it is actually relatively easy to get things done.”
The patent coalition’s priorities are broad, clarifying seven keys to reform, including things like increasing the level of detail required in initial court pleadings, stopping unnecessary discovery and forcing the losing party to pay for the winning party’s legal fees after frivolous litigation.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) reintroduced the Innovation Act last week, which overwhelmingly passed the House last Congress and has the coalition’s support. One provision that the coalition is watching carefully is aimed at protecting so-called end users, who often include retailers using patented technology. The provision — known as “customer stay” — is meant to delay lawsuits against end users until litigation against the actual manufacturer of the technology has finished.