{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/videos?ContentRecord_id=4ce494ff-8e55-4a27-98f6-e528db7561cd", "ICYMI: Heller Opening Statement at a Hearing Examining Deceptive Practices by \u201cPatent Trolls\u201d", "2013-11-07", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "NV", "Dean Heller", "H001041", "www.heller.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "(Washington, D.C.) \u2013 U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV), Ranking Member of the Senate Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance Subcommittee, today delivered the following remarks during a hearing to examine the impact of demand letters \u2014 sent by patent assertion entities (PAEs) or \u201cpatent trolls\u201d \u2014 on small businesses, consumers, and innovators:\r\nRemarks as prepared:\r\nGood morning.\r\nI would like to thank Chairman McCaskill for holding this hearing and I would also like to thank our witnesses for being here and sharing their expert testimony today with the subcommittee.\r\nToday, we are taking a hard look at patent litigation.\u00a0 Specifically, we are looking at the practice of some entities that engage in aggressive pre-litigation practices based on alleged patent infringements.\r\nWe all agree that patent holders should be protected under the law and they should be able to assert patent protection methods.\u00a0 Patents are incredibly important to our economy and we all agree that a patent holder should receive compensation for their innovation.\r\nUnfortunately, there are some actors in this sphere who are aggressively asserting that a patent they own has been infringed on in a manner that some believe is in fact deceptive.\r\nExamples brought to our attention include a business that accumulates patents, often by purchasing them from defunct companies or directly from individual inventors.\u00a0 The company then makes use of patents that are ambiguous or broadly written in order to maximize the number of companies against which the troll can assert the patent.\u00a0\r\nThese companies generally do not make or sell anything related to these patents.\u00a0 Instead, they identify companies using a technology that it can allege is an infringement of the patent, then they write a letter to the alleged infringer stating that infringement has occurred and litigation will commence unless a licensing agreement is entered into\u2014i.e., \u201cpay us or we\u2019ll sue you for patent infringement.\u201d\u00a0\r\nThis practice seems to have initially started with technology companies; however other industries including retailors, hospitals, banks, restaurants and the gaming industry have become targets as well.\r\nThis practice concerns me and I am sure it concerns many Senators.\u00a0 If frivolous lawsuits are being filed across my state of Nevada because a coffee shop allows their customers to use free Wi-Fi in Reno or a Las Vegas Casino receives a demand letter on a game they offer, it can have a negative impact on the economy because it could hinder innovation and economic growth.\u00a0\r\nSo, I do not believe there is any question that this practice is taking place, it is.\r\nWhat I hope the hearing today sheds light on is the scope of the problem and the most appropriate method to stem this behavior.\r\nIt is my understanding that the Federal Trade Commission has authority to act under its existing Section 5 authority to enforce against unfair and deceptive acts and practices.\u00a0 I also understand if they are waiting for the results of their own 6B study to be completed before moving forward.\u00a0\u00a0\r\nI think it is important to see that study or at the very least have a stronger understanding of the scope of the issue before us, especially before moving on to any proposal that may be under this Committee\u2019s jurisdiction regarding the FTC.\r\nI also know that patent reform is an issue that the Judiciary Committee has looked at and will continue to look at.\u00a0 Many of the issues that will be discussed here may also be solved by passing rule-making authority instructing the Patent and Trademark Office to enforce standards on these \u201cdemand letters.\u201d\r\nI hope that we can aid in solving this problem by using this hearing today to shed more light on this issue, but this Committee is somewhat limited due to the narrow lane of jurisdiction we have.\r\nNevertheless, this is an important issue and even by holding this hearing, we are drawing attention to it and rightly so.\u00a0\r\nSo again, I thank the Chairman for holding this hearing, and discussing ways in which we can work to ensure patent holders can protect their patents and that frivolous patent lawsuits are mitigated.\r\nThank you again Ms. Chairman.", 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://www.heller.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/videos?ContentRecord_id=4ce494ff-8e55-4a27-98f6-e528db7561cd"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4935601502656937, "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"}