Minnesota Daily Letter: Regarding the Innovation Act, by Regan Luker
This letter originally appeared in Minnesota Daily on March 23, 2015.
As a student at the University of Minnesota, one of the top research universities in the nation, I am greatly concerned with the proposed legislation dealing with patent reform. I agree there is a need to cut down on abusive patent practices under the current law by so-called “patent trolls.” However, current legislation in Congress is too broad in addressing this problem. The unintended consequences of the Innovation Act are too great to ignore.
Despite its intentions, this bill will affect a large number of patent holders, both individual patent holders as well as universities like the University of Minnesota. If the Innovation Act proves successful, it is very possible that the amount of resources and funding devoted to research at the University would decline.