Taking on Patent Trolls to Protect American Innovation

0in”>Our patent system — as enshrined in our Constitution — is meant to encourage innovation and invention. It was designed to reward Americans for their hard work, risk-taking and genius. It has spurred progress that has driven economic growth and transformed the way we live, work, communicate, and stay healthy. But in recent years, there has been an explosion of abusive patent litigation designed not to reward innovation and enforce intellectual property, but to threaten companies in order to extract settlements based on questionable claims.

There are a growing number of companies, commonly called “patent trolls,” who employ these litigation tactics as a business model — costing the economy billions of dollars and undermining American innovation. In the last two years, the number of lawsuits brought by patent trolls has nearly tripled, and account for 62% of all patent lawsuits in America. All told, the victims of patent trolls paid $29 billion in 2011, a 400% increase from 2005 — not to mention tens of billions dollars more in lost shareholder value.

0in”>Today we are releasing a study on the issue
color:#333333″> that documents the significant toll this issue is taking on our economy and on innovation, and we are excited to
color:#0070C0″>announce
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font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#333333″>both Executive actions the Obama Administration is taking, and the legislative measures that we are calling on Congress to pass to protect American innovators.

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Fonte: White House