CEA Applauds White House Efforts to Curb Patent Litigation Abuse

WASHINGTON (Scrap Monster):  The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has commended the efforts of White House to curb Patent Litigation Abuse.

The statement issued by Gary Shapiro, CEO, CEA said, “We commend the White House for its aggressive efforts to drive patent trolls back under the bridge. For years these trolls have extorted payments from small businesses and held back the growth of our economy, but those easy paydays must come to an end.

“In 2011, 90 percent of companies facing patent suits were small businesses making an average of $11 million per year. As these businesses decided to settle out of court rather than face multi-million dollar patent litigation, the U.S. economy lost more than $320 billion to trolls in just the last four years. This extortion not only costs us jobs, but also drives up the prices of our most innovative products and services.

“In November, the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass the Innovation Act, a bill that offers several solutions to abusive patent litigation. Now, the Senate must take similar action and bring patent reform legislation to a vote.

“Today’s reiteration of the administration’s strong support of patent reform gives hope that this year our nation’s businesses will hire more workers rather than more lawyers. Our innovators should be able to stop padding the pockets of patent trolls and, instead get back to business. We appreciate the White House’s leadership on this important issue, and we urge the Senate to immediately pass legislation ending the patent troll racket.”

Courtesy: Consumer Electronics Association