Published July 2015
The Innovation Act (H.R. 9) includes patent litigation reform provisions that are widely supported by inventors, small businesses, venture capitalists, free-market advocates, and the business community.
Inventors Support Innovation Act Reforms
November 19, 2013 letter from “inventors, technologists and entrepreneurs” who are “collectively listed as the inventors on over 150 patents”
- States that “patent trolls are collecting taxes on innovation by extracting billions of dollars in dubious licensing fees, and wasting the time and management resources of creative businesses”
- Calls for Innovation Act reforms such as heightened pleadings, transparency of ownership, fee shifting, and customer suit exception
Venture Capitalists Support Innovation Act Reforms
March 17, 2015 letter from 140 venture capitalists who “invest hundreds of millions of dollars in soft-ware and information technology businesses and other emerging technologies”
- “To promote continuing growth in our startup economy, we need comprehensive patent reform legislation that will provide small companies the tools to fight back against patent trolls and will curb the worst behavior of the most egregious actors”
- Calls for Innovation Act reforms such as heightened pleadings, demand letter reform, discovery limits, fee shifting, and customer suit exception
Small Businesses Support Innovation Act Reforms
May 12, 2014 letter from 25 organizations of the Main Street Patent Coalition, representing “millions of businesses” that “provide jobs and services in our communities”
- “The price of patent trolls’ abuse of the system and the cost of their extortion on main street businesses is real. Now is the time to fix this problem.”
- Calls for Innovation Act reforms such as demand letter reform, customer suit exception, heightened pleadings, discovery limits, and fee shifting
Conservative and Libertarian Groups Support Innovation Act Reforms
March 12, 2015 letter from 12 free-market organizations:
- “Sadly, it has become clear that the current litigation environment surrounding our patent system has become an immense burden on the very innovators and innovations that the Constitution sought to encourage and protect”
- Calls for Innovation Act reforms such as fee shifting, heightened pleadings, and discovery reform
A Wide Coalition of Businesses Supports Innovation Act Reforms
April 30, 2014 letter from nearly 400 companies and organizations:
- “Today, abusive patent litigation is killing small companies, chilling employment and growth of all companies, and stifling the economies of a wide range of industries nationwide.”
- Calls for Innovation Act reforms such as demand letter reform, customer suit exception, heightened pleadings, discovery limits, and fee shifting