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US Senate stalls reform of patent trolls

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  US Senate stalls reform of patent trolls RS Wood  <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2014-05-23 20:51 +0000

#3040 — US Senate stalls reform of patent trolls

From the «I like my government totally bought» department:
Title: Anti-Troll Patent Reform Stalls in US Senate
Author: marqueeblink@pipedot.org
Date: Thu, 22 May 2014 09:04:45 -0400
Link: http://pipedot.org/story/2014-05-22/antitroll-patent-reform-stalls-in-us-senate

In 2011 the US Congress passed the "America Invents Act"[1] , a so-called
"patent reform" bill that seemed more like a wish list for companies like
IBM, Microsoft, and Intellectual Ventures that file lots of patents and
enforce them vigorously as part (or all) of their business model. That bill
was signed into law by President Obama.A follow-up bill oriented more towards
what the rest of us might consider patent reform, aimed at protecting
businesses from patent trolls and nuisance lawsuits[2] was passed by the US
House of Representatives last year by a vote of 325 to 91; it included
provisions for requiring patent ownership to be more transparent, more
specific language in infringement lawsuits, plaintiff liability for legal
costs in unsuccessful lawsuits, delaying legal discovery during a lawsuit
until the court has finished reviewing the claims, and allowing companies to
protect end users against skip-level infringement lawsuits.However, the
counterpart bill in the Senate was postponed indefinitely[3] on Wednesday by
Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, apparently because of infighting
between the pro-reform faction (Internet companies including Google,
Facebook, and Amazon; other tech companies such as Verizon; and retailers)
and the go-slow faction (pharmaceutical companies, trial lawyers and
universities). Here's the statement from the universities[4] on the
postponement.[Ed note: there seems to be general consensus that patent reform
is desperately necessary to correct a deeply flawed system. But if government
is unable to do it, then what do we do?]

Links:
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leahy-Smith_America_Invents_Act (link)
[2]: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/12/05/the-house-votes-on-patent-reform-today-heres-what-you-need-to-know/ (link)
[3]: http://recode.net/2014/05/21/patent-troll-bill-shelved-over-industry-fighting/ (link)
[4]: http://www.aau.edu/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=15276 (link)

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