[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 165 (Tuesday, November 19, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Page S8182]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                PATENT TRANSPARENCY AND IMPROVEMENTS ACT

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, the American patent system has long been 
the envy of the world. Two years ago, Congress took important action to 
update and modernize this system for the 21st century by passing the 
Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. The Leahy-Smith act has made key 
improvements to the patent system, strengthening it for the long term. 
Unfortunately, there are bad actors who are misusing the system by 
unfairly targeting small businesses and others with lawsuits that are 
often based on low-quality patents. That is why I joined on Monday with 
Senator Lee, Senator Whitehouse, and Senator Klobuchar to introduce 
legislation that will build upon the success of the Leahy-Smith act and 
curb abuses by so-called patent trolls.
  The Patent Transparency and Improvements Act will take important 
steps to rein in the most egregious abuses of the patent system. It 
will improve transparency of patent ownership so that trolls cannot 
hide behind shell corporations and obscure the true owner of the 
patents that are being asserted. It will help customers who are sued 
simply for using a product that they purchased by allowing the case 
against them to be stayed while the product's manufacturer litigates 
the suit. The Patent Transparency and Improvements Act will also take 
steps to crack down on abuses of demand letters that are all too often 
sent to small businesses simply to extort monetary settlements.
  When small businesses in Vermont are threatened with lawsuits simply 
for using document scanners in their offices or offering wi-fi service 
to their customers, we can all agree that the patent system is not 
being used as intended. I thank Senator Lee and our cosponsors for 
joining me in this important effort and applaud Chairman Goodlatte for 
the work he is doing in the House to address this problem. I look 
forward to working with all members of the Judiciary Committee, as well 
as with the House, to pass bipartisan and bicameral legislation that 
will crack down on these abuses while at the same time preserving the 
parts of the patent system that have made it the greatest in the world 
and an engine for job creation.

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