Today (December 5, 2013), by a vote of 325-91, the U.S. House
passed the Innovation Act (H.R. 3309), a Bill sponsored by the
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Robert W. Goodlatte. The Bill is
intended to impose new rules and stricter standards on patent
infringement lawsuits. The Bill is aimed at stopping the abusive
litigation practices by non-practicing entities, commonly known as
"patent trolls". The Bill was supported by the Electronic
Frontier Foundation, Americans for Tax Reform, Consumer Electronics
Association, Business Software Alliance, TechNet, the Coalition for
Patent Fairness, and the Food Marketing Institute.
Lawmakers proposed the Bill after hearing complaints of
non-practicing entities threatening patent infringement lawsuits
based on questionable patents and loosely supported infringement
allegations. Companies who receive such demands complain of feeling
pressured to settle a non-meritorious complaint to avoid expensive
litigation with the
