Stefan Mileschin

The US House of Representatives has passed the Innovation Act by a huge majority despite opposition from universities which had been making a tidy sum flogging patents to trolls.

The Innovation Act was designed to restrain patent trolls and cleared the US House of Representatives with a majority of 325 to 91.

Sponsored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, the bill aims to put an end to abuse of the patent system and make the necessary changes to ensure that it serves its purpose of protecting innovators and their inventions.

The law will make it harder for trolls to send a patent infringement letter and raises the stakes for filing and losing a case.

Under the Innovation Act, a troll needs to list which patents and parts of patents are being infringed and name the offending products or processes as part of any letter. This prevents vague letters demanding money or threatening a more expensive court case. This means that before a troll sends a letter they will have to go through a lengthy and expensive discovery. If a plaintiff loses, they'll have to pay court costs.

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