US: White House feels pressure to act on patent trolls

US Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), the head of the Senate’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, issued a letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging the Obama Administration to tackle the issue of patent trolls, warning officials of the negative effects of such bodies. Patent trolls hoard patents, often without manufacturing any products, with the intent of initiating litigation against companies that use those patents. Also called Patent Assertion Entities, the firms are often seen to abuse patent litigation and stifle innovation through those lawsuits. Now, Senator Klobuchar is rallying the Administration to tackle the issue before her hearing on patent trolls and the relationship between patent law and antitrust, scheduled for July. Senator Klobuchar said in her letter that she appreciated FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez’s efforts to conduct a study on the effects of patent trolls.

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