Here’s why the House patent bill won’t put a stop to patent trolling

[Commentary] The House of Representatives just approved patent legislation called the Innovation Act. Supporters have portrayed it as an historic blow against patent trolling. But while the legislation will discourage some litigation tactics favored by trolls, it does nothing to fix the patent system's fundamental problem: the proliferation of low-quality software patents that have turned the system into an impediment to innovation.

New developments in how trolls operate have transformed the political dynamics of the patent debate. By targeting brick-and-mortar businesses, the new generation of trolls has dramatically expanded the political constituency for anti-troll legislation. But at the same time, technology companies' growing patent portfolios have made many of them leery of any reforms that could lead to some of their hard-won patents being invalidated. The result is a patent bill that focuses narrowly on the particular tactics favored by trolls -- like vague infringement accusations and targeting end users rather than technology vendors -- but does nothing to address the more fundamental problem that there are too many low-quality patents. If the Innovation Act is enacted into law, it will provide some relief to main street businesses who are ill-equipped to deal with patent litigation. But it will do nothing to reverse the patent system's detrimental effects on high-tech innovation. The unseemly tactics targeted by the Innovation Act are not the only way trolls can profit from overly broad patents.