Patent trolls are probably the bane of many companies out there, with some even daring enough to take on tech giants like Apple. Well as it turns out, it seems that US President Barack Obama has had enough of these patent trolls and according to a report from The Wall Street Journal, he will be reportedly instructing the Patent and Trademark Office to start working on a rule that would require the disclosure of the owner of a patent, along with who invented it. Supposedly this will provide more information to people who might have been sued over alleged patent infringement, such as whether the person/company suing them might have other related patents, or if they are suing them over something vague and obscure, which happens to be the case with most patent troll lawsuits.
President Obama is also said to announce five executive actions and seven proposed legislative changes, with one of the changes reportedly aimed at lessening the role the ITC plays in settling patent disputes. For those unfamiliar, the ITC is currently playing a pretty big role when it comes to settling patent disputes, especially with big companies making the headlines such as Apple, Samsung, Motorola, and etc., where these tech giants have tried to get the regulatory body to help ban the import of their competitor’s products. Sounds like a pretty good move and is not the first time we’ve heard President Obama speak up against patent trolls, so this move isn’t all too surprising.
Filed in . Read more about Legal.