Urges Rapid Action to Protect Startups and App Developers from Patent Trolls
Washington, D.C. – The Application Developers Alliance said today it is encouraged by the comprehensive patent reform bill, the PATENT Act, being introduced by Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), John Cornyn (R-TX) Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and looks forward to working with the Senate to pass the needed reforms.
“This bill is critical because there is no time to waste. Without legislation, small innovators will continue to make unjustified payments to predatory patent trolls, simply because paying is less costly than hiring expensive patent lawyers,” said Jon Potter, President of the App Developers Alliance. “Abusive patent trolls are a tax on innovation and threaten small companies nationwide. We encourage the Senate to move swiftly on this legislation.”
The Apps Alliance hosted a dozen companies and held over 30 meetings today with Senate and House offices. Start-ups, innovators and entrepreneurs from across the country told Congress the many ways in which patent trolls have hurt their ability to grow and create jobs. The group cited the uncertainty that frivolous lawsuits create for them as business owners and called on members of Congress to pass patent reform laws in the name of economic growth and job creation.
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.
More information is available at TrollFighter.com.
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The Apps Alliance is a non-profit global membership organization that supports developers as creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs. We promote app industry growth and advocate on behalf of our members on public policy and industry issues. The Apps Alliance serves more than 36,000 individual members and more than 200 companies, including app publishers, platforms, wireless carriers, hardware manufacturers, ad networks, enterprise tools and service providers.
