Between the National Retail Foundation coverage and the national news coverage of President Obama’s statements on patent trolls, every retailer is aware of a growing swell of support for patent reform targeted at stopping the patent troll problem.  And the problem is as big for retailers, as for any business sector.  The NRF’s Senior Vice

Vermont has passed a bill, which the Governor is expected to sign into law (H.299) called “Bad Faith Assertions of Patent Infringements”  — hat tip to Eric Goldman for identifying the law. Instead of defining bad faith assertions, it provides factors that may identify bad faith assertions, including:

  1. Failing to identifying the patent(s)-at-issue;

Santa Clara Law Professor Colleen Chien recently wrote an interesting article on Patently-O discussing some key patent troll statistics in light of President Obama’s troll comments and the new SHIELD Act.  Here are some of the key takeaways for retailers:

  • In 2012, trolls filed 62% of patent litigations 2,921 of 4,701 suits.
  • Retailers are

The SHIELD Act — Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes — is back.  The SHIELD Act was originally introduced in the last Congress and would have awarded costs, including reasonable attorney’s fees, to a prevailing defendant when, upon completion of the case, a Court held that the patentholder’s case had not had a reasonable

With a hat tip to Dennis Crouch at Patently-O, President Obama recently addressed the patent troll “problem” as part of a Google Fireside Hangout.  The patent troll question and the President’s answer start shortly after the 16:00 mark of the following video:

President Obama’s answer is straightforward and focused upon addressing the problem.  

Professor Colleen Chien from Santa Clara Law spoke at the December 10 DOJ/FTC troll conference.  As a follow up to the conference, she offered IAM Magazine her thoughts attempting to put our current troll situation, which she acknowledges is “disruptive” for business, with two other historical periods of increased troll activity involving railroads and sewing