Patents Act in Senate Lacks Robustness Needed To Fight Patent Trolls, Shapiro Says

Patent reform legislation introduced by Sen. Chris Coons, R-Del., lacks the robustness needed to stop frivolous patent litigation, said CEA President Gary Shapiro Tuesday. The Coons legislation, called the Support Technology and Research for Our Nation’s Growth (STRONG) Patents Act, “has a few modest provisions aimed at improving our patent system,” Shapiro said. "Halting the epidemic of bogus patent lawsuits will require a more robust and multifaceted approach, including fee-shifting, similar to that taken by the Innovation Act,” Shapiro said. “The STRONG Patents Act appears less like real patent reform and more like a patent troll-led effort to draft a ‘fig leaf’ bill for senators to sign on to so they can pretend they are supporting patent reform, while shielding the legalized extortion of the patent trolls.”