What sorts of legislation have been passed to protect me against patent litigation?

Text Transcript

Travis Stegemoller, Trademark Attorney: I think one of the more interesting pieces at the federal level involves patent law right now, and actually the absence of a federal law that deals with what are being called “patent trolls,” or non-practicing entities. And what that basically is is someone who owns one patent or a portfolio of patents but they don’t actually produce what the patent is intended to make. Instead, their whole intent is to initiate lawsuits and litigation in order to monetize off of a royalty scheme – never intending to make the underlying product or use the underlying method itself.

And so what’s interesting is you’re seeing a lot of states step up to the plate and pass legislation at the state level to address the tactics that we see with patent trolls. So this is important, especially for small businesses and startups who don’t have the funds to defend themselves in a patent litigation situation. Some of these state laws target the content of a demand letter that you receive. So whereas you might normally receive a letter that says “cease and desist using that technology, or pay us a large sum of money,” states are giving startups and small businesses tools they can use to combat that rather than drawing out and investing in the litigation process itself.