Tech groups praise House ‘patent troll’ vote

Tech companies and trade groups praised the House for passing the Innovation Act.

Tech companies, trade organizations and advocacy groups thanked the House for its vote. The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) called the bill “a commendable, bipartisan effort to grow innovation, jobs and the economy.” “This legislation would make it less profitable for patent trolls to sue, and give targets of unfair patent infringement claims better tools to fight back,” CCIA CEO Ed Black said in a statement. CCIA group includes Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Samsung. The Application Developers Alliance -- which includes Google, Yahoo and small app developers -- said the vote is “a victory for app developer creators and innovators, who too often are road kill for patent trolls.” Alliance President Jon Potter applauded the discussion of demand letters, or the letters that firms send accusing recipients of patent infringement and threatening legal action. Even trade groups and companies that had initially resisted Rep Goodlatte’s bill voiced support for the version that passed the House. BSA – The Software Alliance said the bill “strikes an important balance that will make life harder for bad actors and better for innovators.” BSA represents Apple, IBM, Intel, Microsoft and Oracle, among other software companies.