Patent Act 2015: Good or Bad?

A new piece of patent legislation was rolled out earlier this year: the Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship Act of 2015 (commonly referred to as the Patent Act). On June 4, 2015 there was a Senate committee vote of approval by a 16-4 margin that moved the Act to the floor of the United States Senate. But what is really in this proposed legislation? Well, lots of stuff. But to break it down very (VERY) simply, it appears that the law aims at tackling patent trolls. Patent trolls are a nebulous concept so bear with me for a minute. Wikipedia defines them as "a person or company that attempts to enforce patent rights against accused infringers far beyond the patent's actual value or contribution to the prior art. Patent trolls often do not manufacture products or supply services based upon the patents in question." Ok, so let's break this down a little further. Patent trolls have gotten a bad name because we have seen people and companies (so-called "trolls) assert rights against other entities even though the troll has no real standing. That can be unfair. However, patent trolls aren't always bad and the problem with the new patent act legislation, as written, is that it almost treats every small inventor as if its a big, bad patent troll. Or, at least, this is the concern of the four Senate dissenters which include Cornyn and Cruz. These Senate committee members voiced concerns that the legislation will chill inventorship and kill jobs because it makes litigation (bringing a lawsuit) incredibly difficult and it errodes the value of a patent.

What do you think? Have some input? I'd love to hear it! Email me at mmulaw@outlook.com or tweet me at @PatLawChick.