Washington, D.C. (July 22, 2013) – Today the Application Developers Alliance applauded new Congressional action to eradicate patent trolls. Representatives Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Judy Chu (D-CA) introduced a bill to provide troll victims a lower-cost alternative to litigation when challenging the validity of patents that should never have been issued. The measure, like that introduced by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY), will expand the Covered Business Method Program, which provides an administrative avenue to challenge the validity of a troll’s patent in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).
“This legislation signals growing momentum behind important reforms to curb patent troll abuse. Patent trolls wielding poor quality patents are a growing challenge for entrepreneurs, particularly startups and independent app developers who do not have the resources or time for senseless and expensive legal battles,” said Jon Potter, President of the Application Developers Alliance.
“Expanding the Covered Business Method Program will help startups and small companies challenge invalid patents administratively in the PTO rather than by litigation in federal court. We thank Representatives Issa and Chu for standing with innovators and fighting patent troll abuse,” Potter concluded.
About the Application Developers Alliance
The Application Developers Alliance is an industry association dedicated to meeting the unique needs of application developers as creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Alliance members include more than 25,000 individual application developers and more than 125 companies in the apps ecosystem.
