Calls on Congress to Pass Patent Reform and Protect Economic Drivers
WASHINGTON, DC – The Application Developers Alliance praised the Senate Judiciary Committee today for inviting patent troll victims and small businesses to speak for themselves and ask Congress for comprehensive patent reform.
The Senate committee heard testimony from Brad Powers, General Counsel of Iowa based farm equipment manufacturer, who stressed the importance of protecting businesses and innovators across the country from bad actors who abuse the patent system. Kinze recently shared their story with Senator Grassley in a discussion about patent reform hosted by the Apps Alliance in Iowa. Kinze CEO, Jon Kinzenbaw, also wrote about the need for patent reform in an opinion in the Des Moines Register this week.
“Patent trolls are stifling innovation and growth on main streets across the country. Developers, inventors and businesses in every state have been threatened, even ruined by patent trolls and our economy loses billions of dollars every year to these bad actors,” said Jon Potter, President, Apps Alliance. “We support efforts to combat trolls without harming legitimate patent enforcement. Any legislation must force demand letter senders to be transparent and act in good faith, and improve patent quality.”
“Congress must protect our job-creators and economy from this unethical behavior and should pass meaningful patent reform laws to do so now. We look forward to working with both Republicans and Democrats in getting legislation across the finish line,” Potter continued.
This week the Apps Alliance launched a multimedia ad campaign in Washington D.C. and targeted states calling for comprehensive patent reform. The Troll Fighter campaign includes digital, print and Pandora advertising that features small business owners, innovators and app developers that have been targeted by patent trolls.
The Application Developers Alliance supports legislative reforms that undermine the patent troll business model without harming legitimate patent enforcement. The Alliance supports policies that short-circuit frivolous litigation, address the imbalance in litigation burdens, and ensure transparency and specificity in demand letters and complaints.
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The Application Developers Alliance is a non-profit global membership organization that supports developers as creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs. The Apps Alliance, which now includes more than 200 corporate members and 36,000 individual members, launched in January of 2012 and initiated European services in early 2014. Membership includes app publishers, developer agencies, platforms, wireless carriers, hardware manufacturers, ad networks, enterprise tools and service providers.
