The Hill News

Lawsuits over patents have become big business. How big? Google this year bid $900 million for 6,000 technology patents and patent applications held by bankrupt Canadian phone-equipment maker Nortel just to minimize the likelihood of being sued by so-called “patent trolls” -- companies or individuals who buy up patents, not to incorporate them into products and services, but to file nettlesome infringement litigation.

Over the past several years, patent trolls have become the biggest players in patent litigation, which annually yields billions of dollars in settlements and verdicts. But a balanced provision in the patent reform bill working its way through Congress will help protect many of our productive companies from these trolls. Section 18 of the legislation would establish an extra layer of review of patents on financial products and services by experts at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Doing so would boost the economy by reducing the abuse of the c! ivil justice system.

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