Washington, D.C. (May 1, 2013) – The Application Developers Alliance praised Senator Charles Schumer’s (D-NY) announcement of his intention to introduce legislation addressing patent troll abuse. Schumer’s bill will expand the Covered Business Method Program, which currently covers only financial services related patents, to apply to all business method patents. The expansion would allow companies to challenge the validity of a troll’s patent in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) as an alternative to expensive and time-consuming litigation.
“We thank Senator Schumer for this step toward curbing patent troll abuse. Patent trolls hamper innovation and pose a looming threat to all entrepreneurs and innovators. They prey on startups and independent app developers who do not have the time or resources to undergo an expensive legal battle,” said Jon Potter, President of the Application Developers Alliance.
“Expanding the Covered Business Method Program would help startups fight trolls by helping weed out poor quality patents and giving startups a way to challenge patent troll validity that does not require a costly legal battle. Schumer’s announcement coupled with Senator Leahy’s calls for patent reform last week are a welcome signal to app developers and entrepreneurs that Congress is ready to stand with innovators rather than trolls,” 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 20,000 individual application developers and more than 100 companies in the apps ecosystem.
