Don’t Be 'Hoodwinked' by HR-9 Opposition ‘Mudslinging Campaign,’ SIIA Urges House Leadership

Abuse of the current patent litigation system by patent assertion entities (PAEs) “is the most significant problem facing the patent system and innovation more generally,” Mark MacCarthy, vice president-public policy at the Software & Information Industry Association, wrote to the House leadership Thursday urging support for the Innovation Act (HR-9). “Patent trolls do not innovate, make or sell anything, but exist simply to buy patents from others for the sole purpose of suing legitimate businesses of all sizes and kinds for alleged patent infringement, leveraging the very high cost of defending against such lawsuits to obtain ‘hold up’ settlements,” MacCarthy said. “In sum, PAEs have created a business model that exploits flaws in both the patent system and litigation practices to their advantage and to the disadvantage of innovative industries, their customers and the public. Action needs to be taken now to stop these abusive tactics.” MacCarthy cautioned lawmakers not to be taken in by “a hail-Mary mudslinging campaign” mounted by HR-9 opponents and “designed to obfuscate the purpose and effect of the Innovation Act.” Statements in that campaign that “China loves” HR-9 or that “inventors fear it” are “nothing more than scare tactics from groups that have no substantively compelling arguments on which to base their opposition,” he said. That was an apparent reference to an American Conservative Union-led ad blitz launched Monday through Washington-area newspapers urging defeat of HR-9 on the grounds it will harm American inventors and small businesses. Said MacCarthy: “We urge you to look at the facts and the overwhelming support for the bill and not be hoodwinked into believing that this bill is bad for innovators or the economy.”