WASHINGTON, DC - The Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (R-TX), today held a hearing on a draft of the Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters Act (TROL Act). The subcommittee is continuing its work from last Congress to craft legislation that protects businesses and consumers from abusive patent demand letters, while preserving the ability of patent holders to legitimately protect their intellectual property.
“Last year, the subcommittee held a series of negotiations resulting in the draft legislation before us today. Although the draft bill passed our subcommittee with bipartisan support, I believe narrow amendments could still achieve better protections for recipients of demand letters." said Burgess.
Witnesses testified today about the growing problem of patent trolls and the great economic burden they impose on small businesses on consumers. All of the witnesses agreed on the need for federal action to limit this abusive and costly practice. They offered their perspective on the draft and provided suggestions on how to improve it to achieve a balanced and effective solution.
David Long, Partner at Kelley Drye, testified on behalf of Innovation Alliance. He said the subcommittee’s draft “reflects the type of balanced, targeted measure appropriate for addressing bad faith demand letters while respecting patent rights and legitimate communications used to efficiently reach reasonable business solutions to patent infringement concerns." He urged the committee to adopt a measured response to address to this limited problem that does not harm the patent system.
Gregory Dolin, Associate Professor of Law Baltimore University School of Law, commented that the TROL act is “a commendable response to the proliferation of state-based provisions seeking to regulate demand letters," explaining that state-based legislation is often problematic and treads on the exclusive federal domain in the area of patent law. He also warned against unintended consequences of overly restrictive and burdensome mandates that could threaten innovation and increase overall costs.
Diane Lettelleir, Senior Managing Counsel for J.C. Penney Corporation, Inc., testified on behalf of United for Patent Reform. “Abusive patent enforcement tactics have a detrimental impact on innovation, job creation and the integrity of our patent system," said Lettelleir. She called for a comprehensive solution to “release Main Street businesses from the controlling grip on their industry that patent trolls currently enjoy." She praised the committee’s efforts to tackle this problem and offered a number of suggestions to the draft.
Chairman Burgess committed to continuing to work with members and stakeholders to achieve targeted reforms, concluding, “We aim to move this bill forward and I believe it could become law, so long as it resolves the demand letter problem with due respect for our Constitution."
