Blake Farenthold: “Thank you very much. Madam Chairman, the patent system is a vital part of our national identity. It stimulates American…”

“Thank you very much. Madam Chairman, the patent system is a vital part of our national identity. It stimulates American ingenuity, and it enhances our global competitiveness stance. Traditionally, patent holders have asserted their patents against those who produce infringing technologies, but in recent years, abusive patent litigation--patent trolling--has ballooned as companies have emerged solely to buy questionable and vaguely defined patents and to assert them against thousands of end users in the hope of extracting licensing fees. Right now, the patent trolls are going after hotels and restaurants. It is the reason you don't have Wi-Fi in more restaurants. Guess what? This is legalized extortion, and H.R. 3309 will significantly curb this problem. Though I have some problems with section 9(c) in the PTO's ability to apply the broadest reasonable interpretation claim construction standard in post grant reviews, this bill is a delicate compromise between competing interests. I hope we can deal with the 9(c) problem in the future, but overall, this is a great bill. I am not going to let the perfect get in the way of the doable. I hope my colleagues who have minor objections to the bill don't do the same. We have got to stop this abusive patent trolling litigation, and this bill will do it. I urge my colleagues to support it.”