White House Releases Study, Executive Orders To Combat Patent Trolls

As recently explored in an episode of This American Life, high-tech patent litigation has reached unprecedented proportions, with many research-oriented companies now joining the calls to restructure the patent system. This week, the White House released five executive orders and seven legislative recommendations to add transparency to the system and level the playing field for innovators. The executive orders require patents to name the real party-in-interest (as opposed to shell companies), call for stricter bounds on functional claims, limit the liability of end users, strengthen exclusion orders to ban the import of infringing products and begin a more extensive investigation of the current system. Read the White House announcement...