SACRAMENTO — Tech companies and their lobbies responded largely with praise Wednesday for federal patent legislation that proposes significant new disincentives for so-called trolls.
The defense-friendly Innovation Act, introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) reflects months of negotiations with Silicon Valley business leaders and other tech entrepreneurs eager for litigation protections that go beyond the two-year-old America Invent Act. The bill’s proposals include more liberal fee-shifting, heightened initial pleading requirements and a joinder provision that would allow courts to join parties that have an interest in the patents at stake.
