New Democrat Coalition Statement on Judiciary Committee Passage of Innovation Act
New Democrat Coalition leaders released the following statement in response to the House Judiciary Committee’s passage of the Innovation Act.
“The New Democrat Coalition believes strongly in harnessing the industriousness, creativity, and risk-taking ability of our nation’s small business owners. We believe that our patent system must maintain a balance between protecting the rights of legitimate patent holders to enforce their patents and protecting consumer and businesses against non-legitimate abusers of the patent system. Unfortunately, over the last several years, there has been a proliferation of patent assertion entities (sometimes referred to as ‘patent trolls’) who are exploiting America’s entrepreneurs and innovators for unearned private gain. According to the latest research, patent trolls cost the American economy more than $29 billion in a single year. The Innovation Act, which passed with broad bipartisan support in the Judiciary Committee, works to protect entrepreneurs and innovators by clamping down on patent trolls by implementing key new transparency and accountability measures. It would help to protect small business owners from the nuisance of illegitimate patent claims, freeing their time and resources to be used on what should be their top priorities – creating new, good-paying jobs and growing their businesses.
As legislation moves from committee to the floor, we pledge our support to America’s dreamers and doers: the small business owners who are the fiber of our economic strength. We believe this bill is a significant step in the right direction and look forward to working with the Chairman and our colleagues on both sides of the aisle to pass meaningful patent reform legislation.”
New Democrat Coalition Vice-Chair Rep. Gerry Connolly, Vice-Chair Rep. Rick Larsen, Vice-Chair Rep. Jim Himes, Vice-Chair Rep. Allyson Schwartz and Members Rep. Jared Polis, Rep. Pedro Pierluisi, Rep. Rep. Suzan DelBene endorsed the above statement.
The New Democrat Coalition is dedicated to maintaining America’s standing as the world’s strongest, most successful nation. Founded in 1997, the New Dems believe firmly in the power of American ingenuity and innovation, and are focused on finding ways to foster and harness this creativity to grow our economy, create new American jobs, and ensure a safer and more secure future for our country.
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