Potential Patent Troll Bill Stuck in the Senate

For months, the Senate has grappled with new legislation aimed at reducing abusive patent litigation. In November 2013, Senator Leahy introduced the Patent Transparency and Improvements Act. Since its introduction, senators have debated various provisions, including certain fee-shifting provisions requiring the losing party to pay the prevailing party's legal fees. A new draft of the bill states, if adopted, the fee-shifting rules would take effect for cases filed on or after April 24, 2014. On April 23, 2014, district courts were inundated with new patent cases, ostensibly in a race to avoid the potential fee-shifting provisions. Senator Leahy noted the committee has reached agreement on the majority of issues presented in the bill, but it is unclear when the bill will be ready for a vote. The House recently passed the Innovation Act, which includes fee-shifting provisions, heightened pleading standards and certain limits on discovery in patent cases.

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