Patent trolls, armed with low-quality patents, have been harming small innovative companies for years. Their time is up.
This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to take up patent reform -- Senate action is the important last step in an ongoing battle to fix a broken patent system. That’s why, today, we’re launching Fixpatents.org -- a simple campaign that allows you tell your Senator directly, on the phone or through Twitter, that we need real patent troll reform passed now. Personally contacting your representatives on the Hill is by far the best way to affect policy. Call your senator today and urge real patent reform.
Last December, the House passed an impressive bill of reforms, the Innovation Act, in a 325-91 vote, and the President has promised he'd sign it. We need to Senate to follow suit. This is the time to make our stand.
Patent reform matters to the recovering economy, to innovation policy, and mostly to small and growing startups who face the worst of the troll threats. Here’s why:
- Startups are responsible for all net job growth over the last 30 years and the rise of the patent troll model threatens that continued growth.
- The majority of companies targeted by patent trolls have less than $10 million in revenue. When small businesses face dubious multimillion dollar lawsuits, our innovation economy suffers.
- Non-practicing entities -- or patent trolls --- filed 3,608 new suits in 2013, up almost 20% from 2012. And these types of lawsuits are expensive, costing defendants $1 trillion in lost wealth from 1990 - 2010 alone.
- Patent troll suits accounted for 67% of all new patent cases filed last year, and 63% of all new patent defendants. This is a perversion of the justice system.
We are facing an epidemic and American businesses are paying the price. We need leadership, and action, now.
It’s time for Congress to pass legislation that puts an end to the dangerous business of patent trolling. Specifically, we need legislation that will:
- Promote meaningful fee shifting
- Shift the financial burden of burdensome litigation tactics, like discovery
- Provide fair notice to accused infringers
- Curb deceptive demand letters
- Protect customers in patent litigation
The Senate must act, and with your help we can make patent reform a reality. Visit Fixpatents.org now, make the call, and urge your Senator to pass patent reform.
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