Patent Troll Bill Shelved Over Industry Fighting

Tech industry hopes of a solution to the problem of patent trolls became more elusive when lawmakers gave up on patent legislation after being unable to reach a compromise on some details.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), announced he’s pulling the patent troll legislation for the foreseeable future because of an inability to resolve some outstanding issues.

“Unfortunately, there has been no agreement on how to combat the scourge of patent trolls on our economy without burdening the companies and universities who rely on the patent system every day to protect their inventions,” Sen Leahy said.

Disagreement between tech companies and universities over “fee shifting,” or who pays the legal fees when patent troll lawsuits fail, has been a stumbling block for lawmakers.