Washington, D.C. (April 29, 2014) – Today the App Developers Alliance applauded two U.S. Supreme Court decisions in patent infringement cases and urged the U.S. Senate to quickly pass strong legislation that further inhibits patent trolls’ ability to abuse American entrepreneurs. Today’s rulings give federal trial judges more discretion to award legal fees and costs to the winners of frivolous infringement lawsuits, but they do not remove the need for Congress to act to protect innovators from patent trolls.
“Today the Supreme Court empowered federal trial judges to determine when patent infringement cases are ‘exceptional’ and to punish trolls when they initiate frivolous and extortionist lawsuits. This is an important but modest change that will adjust slightly the financial calculation that trolls and their investors make before filing unjustified lawsuits,” said Jon Potter, President of the Application Developers Alliance.
“Today’s fee-shifting decisions underscore the need for swift, bipartisan Senate action to stop patent trolls. It is time for Congress to join the judiciary and the Administration by enacting comprehensive reform legislation that undermines the patent troll business model,” Potter concluded.
The two Supreme Court decisions are Octane Fitness, LLC v. Icon Health & Fitness, LLC and Highmark, Inc. v. Allcare Health Management System, Inc.
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 30,000 individual application developers and more than 175 companies in the apps ecosystem.
