WASHINGTON – On Thursday, the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3309, also known as the “Innovation Act.” The bill had 16 cosponsors, including Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, and passed overwhelmingly by a 325-91 vote.
According to a release from Bachus’ office, the bill aims to thwart abusive litigation practices of so-called “patent trolls,” who claim intellectual ownership of products and services developed by legitimate inventors, entrepreneurs, and businesses.
“This is a jobs and competitiveness issue for our economy,” Bachus said. “Every dollar drained from inventors and entrepreneurs by frivolous and abusive litigation is a dollar that cannot be used to develop a new idea and grow. We have to be concerned about how many potential ‘Apples’ will never get past the seedling stage because of these unwarranted costs.”
The bill came out of the Judiciary Committee, where Bachus serves as the chairman of the Regulatory Reform, Commercial, and Antitrust Law subcommittee.
The bill now heads to the U.S. Senate, where Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has a competing version of the bill that is currently pending.
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