Innovation Alliance Statement on the Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters (TROL) Act of 2014
WASHINGTON – Innovation Alliance Executive Director Brian Pomper released the following statement regarding the Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters (TROL) Act of 2014:
“The Innovation Alliance applauds the House Energy and Commerce Committee for their work over the past several months to achieve a meaningful, balanced bill on the issue of demand letters that will address the abusive behavior that small businesses and retail interests face. We support the approach taken in the TROL Act and urge the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade to report it favorably. We believe the Act appropriately targets abusive behavior rather than particular types of patent owners, while maintaining the integrity of legitimate patent enforcement practices for all patent holders.
“We commend the staff for their concerted efforts to engage a diverse group of stakeholders in the development of this bill and look forward to continuing to work with the Committee to ensure that any demand letter legislation maintains a balance among all stakeholders. Patents are essential to incentivizing invention, investment, research and development, and job growth. As such, any patent legislation should enhance those economic functions. The TROL Act targets a real problem while avoiding an overly broad approach that would impair the necessary and beneficial economic functions of the patent system.”
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