Congress is again taking aim at patent trolls with a bill intended to curb alleged patent litigation abuses. The chairman of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., introduced the bill, officially The Innovation Act, in 2013. A version of the bill passed the House in a 325-91 vote in December, and it is currently before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where action has been postponed four times in the past three weeks.
The committee is currently split along party lines regarding a key provision that would require a loser to pay the prevailing party’s attorney fees in most patent litigations. This provision might appear to have value in discouraging frivolous litigation by patent trolls, but there are other ways to discourage such litigation without damaging the rights of legitimate patent owners.
