{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043911/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47800", "Grassley Statement at Patent Trolls Hearing", "2013-12-17", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "IA", "Charles Grassley", "G000386", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Prepared Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa  \nRanking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee  \nHearing on \u201cProtecting Small Businesses and  \nPromoting Innovation by Limiting Patent Troll Abuse\u201d  \nTuesday, December 17, 2013 Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this important hearing today.\u00a0 The United States is a global leader in innovating, creating and developing new technologies and products.\u00a0 Intellectual property protection plays a critical role in supporting technological advances, innovation and creativity.\u00a0 Patents and the U.S. patent system are a significant component of the American tradition of invention and innovation. However, the innovation and creativity that patents are supposed to protect is being threatened by purposely evasive and deceptive blanket demand letters and abusive litigation practices.\u00a0 According to one study, lawsuits by patent assertion entities have increased at an alarming rate \u2013 in fact, 62% of all patent lawsuits filed in 2012 were cases brought by patent assertion entities.\u00a0 Patent litigation abuse imposes high costs on American businesses, wasting precious resources that could instead be utilized for research, development, job creation and economic growth. Patent assertion entities, also known as patent trolls, focus on buying and asserting patents, rather than on developing or commercializing patented inventions.\u00a0 Patent trolls often assert these weak or poorly-granted patents against companies that are already utilizing technologies as ubiquitous as wireless email, digital video streaming and the internet.\u00a0 These entities frequently carry out their tactics behind the shield of patent holding subsidiaries, affiliates and shells of operating companies.\u00a0 Patent troll lawsuits rarely have merit:\u00a0 the statistics are they lose 92% of merits judgments.\u00a0 But the extent of the problem cannot be quantified by looking at these numbers alone.\u00a0 Most cases don\u2019t even get to this stage.\u00a0 Patent assertion entities usually set their royalty demands strategically below litigation costs.\u00a0 Consequently, companies make the determination that they should settle weak or meritless cases rather than run the risk of taking on expensive and risky patent litigation. The bottom line is that many small businesses just don\u2019t have the resources to litigate and so they submit to this kind of patent extortion.\u00a0 That\u2019s not right. This phenomenon of patent trolls has hit companies all over the country, and they\u2019ve targeted my state of Iowa as well.\u00a0 I recently met with a group of Iowans in Council Bluffs and heard stories about how patent trolls utilize overly broad patents to make claims of infringement against their businesses that are either simply engaging in normal business practices or have bought a technology product or service from a vendor.\u00a0\u00a0 Further, I\u2019ve received a number of letters from Iowans outlining their problems and frustration with these abuses.\u00a0\u00a0 They say that these trolls have forced their businesses to divert resources from productive endeavors to instead focus on researching vague demand letters and defending questionable infringement lawsuits.\u00a0 They \u2018re concerned that billions of dollars are being spent in unwarranted legal costs that could be put to more productive use.\u00a0 According to one of my constituents, \u201cthis practice is now completely out of control.\u201d I\u2019d like to quote from a letter that I received from groups representing a wide swath of businesses in my state.\u00a0 This letter is from Hy-Vee Food Stores, the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, the Iowa Lodging Association, the Motion Picture Association of Iowa, the Iowa Grocery Industry Association, the Technology Association of Iowa, the Iowa Restaurant Association, the Iowa Credit Union League, the Iowa Association of Realtors, the Iowa Telecommunications Association, the Iowa Biotechnology Association, the Iowa Bankers Association, the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa, and the Iowa Retail Federation.\u00a0\u00a0 They write, \u201cFighting frivolous and burdensome patent lawsuits threatened and filed by patent trolls is an expensive distraction for a large cross-section of Iowa businesses.\u00a0 Rather than focus their efforts on important economic development catalysts such as innovation, job creation, and business growth, entrepreneurs and business owners from all industries and sizes are more frequently finding themselves diverting valuable attention and limited resources to defending expensive and unnecessary legal threats by patent trolls.\u00a0 Indeed, businesses, everyday Iowans, and Iowa\u2019s economy as a whole are adversely affected by the trolls\u2019 seemingly endless barrage of legal threats and frivolous suits.\u00a0 The trolls\u2019 misguided and unbridled mischief unnecessarily drives up costs that are, in part, passed on to Iowa\u2019s hardworking families and consumers.\u201d\u00a0 These groups are supportive of Congress taking action because they believe \u201cmeaningful reforms that make it difficult for patent trolls to continue their destructive business models, improve patent quality, and streamline patent infringement disputes will drastically reduce costs for Iowa businesses.\u201d I have other letters from Iowans describing their experiences with patent trolls.\u00a0 Quotes from some of these letters \u2013 according to BettrLife in Urbandale, \u201cwe must find a way to strengthen the requirements around patent infringement so unscrupulous lawyers can\u2019t work through loop-holes to take resources and dollars from companies that are trying to make a positive impact on businesses in their community and the overall economy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 According to Kinze Manufacturing in Williamsburg, their patent troll experience \u201chas left a lasting impact . . . .\u00a0 .\u00a0 Contract negotiations with suppliers and service providers now routinely include allocation of liability in the event of patent trolling.\u00a0 These negotiations require additional resources and delay research, development and production of new products.\u00a0 This slows farmer\u2019s access to the latest technology.\u00a0 Technology which will help them get more out of every acre while reducing their costs and protecting their soil.\u201d\u00a0 According to Kum & Go based in West Des Moines, claims of patent trolls have cost the company \u201cthousands of dollars in legal fees and corporate counsel has wasted numerous hours dealing with these frivolous claims \u2013 time and money that should have been spent on core business functions.\u201d I\u2019ve also heard from Iowans that are concerned about the ability of patent holders to protect their intellectual property rights and enforce them against infringers.\u00a0 While they agree that litigation abuse does occur in the patent system, they are concerned that certain proposals will undermine the ability of legitimate patent holders to enforce their patent rights.\u00a0 These constituents include Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and independent inventors Robert Rees and Paul Morinville.\u00a0 I agree that it is important to maintain an appropriate balance between protecting the rights of legitimate patent holders and protecting against abusive practices and weak patents.\u00a0 We need to preserve patent property rights and valid patent enforcement tools which will promote invention, while targeting bad actors and their tactics that target and shake down businesses with weak and frivolous claims for a quick payday.\u00a0\u00a0 This will strengthen our patent system and benefit inventors, businesses and consumers alike. Mr. Chairman, I\u2019d like to put in the record letters from Iowa constituents, both expressing support and concerns with the various proposals we are considering in the Senate.\u00a0 I also have for the record letters from the National Retail Federation and Stop Patent Abuse Now Coalition expressing concerns with the customer stay provision as currently drafted in the House and Senate bills. Doing something about the abusive practices plaguing our patent system is important to keeping the United States competitive, creating jobs and boosting our economy.\u00a0 Members on both sides of the aisle agree that this abusive patent litigation hurts the ability of businesses to expand and flourish.\u00a0 We should pass effective legislation to curtail abuses of the legal system.\u00a0 I\u2019m encouraged that the House passed the Innovation Act by a large margin, and the White House issued a statement in support of that bill. So I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today about their experiences with abusive patent litigation tactics by patent trolls.\u00a0 I also look forward to hearing from our witness about their views on how we in Congress can help find a solution to this problem.\u00a0 And Mr. Chairman, I look forward to working with you to pass meaningful legislation that can alleviate the problems that many of our constituents are dealing with and that are harming our economy.\u00a0 Thank you. -30-", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221043911/http://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/Article.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1502=47800"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6869388744235039, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}