On February 20, 2014, the White House hosted an event
"highlight[ing] progress on the [Obama] Administration's
patent policy agenda." Orrick intellectual property
attorney Wesley Helmholz attended the event at the White
House's invitation, along with technology company
representatives, members of the patent litigation community, and
other stakeholders. The event commemorated the one-year
anniversary of President Obama's "call to action" to
combat patent trolls and "abusive patent
litigation." White House Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Todd Park, National Economic Council Director Gene Sperling,
Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, and PTO Deputy Director
Michelle Lee described the Administration's progress on new and
existing patent reform initiatives and called on Congress to pass
"common-sense patent reform legislation [to] curtail abusive
patent litigation and improve transparency in the patent
system."
