Cárdenas, Farenthold Refile ITC Patent Litigation Abuse Bill

Reps. Tony Cárdenas, D-Calif., and Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, jointly reintroduced their Trade Protection Not Troll Protection Act Tuesday. The bill, which the House didn't consider when it was introduced during the 114th Congress, would require patent assertion entities to have a “vested interest” in a patent before the PAE could seek an International Trade Commission patent infringement investigation. The bill would also give the ITC more leeway to consider at any point in the investigation whether an investigation is in the public interest, rather than only when making a final determination in a case. The bill would codify the ITC's 2013 pilot program that allows a 100-day expedited fact-finding and hearing process in patent investigations. “American businesses are being crippled by the bureaucracy it takes to fight these claims,” Cárdenas said in a news release. Patent litigation abuse “is a drag on our economy and it stifles innovation,” Farenthold said in the release. “Our legislation curbs the problem by targeting abusive patent trolls and discouraging frivolous patent lawsuits.” Both CTA and Public Knowledge lauded Cárdenas and Farenthold for reintroducing the bill, which was supported by Cisco, Dell and Google. The bill will allow the ITC to “continue to be a robust resource for U.S. companies, but it will be a less attractive venue for frivolous patent extortion,” said CTA CEO Gary Shapiro in a statement. “The ITC has become an increasingly popular venue for patent disputes due to its strong power to exclude products at the border,” said PK Director-Patent Reform Project Charles Duan in a news release. “But that strong exclusionary power invites abusive practices that damage American businesses and consumers.”