Title | Patent Trolls Win Battle In Congress | |
Date | Monday June 02 2014, @12:15AM | |
Author | NCommander | |
Topic | ||
from the not-this-crap-again dept. |
Ars Technica How the patent trolls won in Congress
Trial lawyers are heavy donors to Democratic politicians, including Reid. A Washington Post article on Reid's fundraising during his 2010 campaign noted big-money fundraisers taking place at a Florida trial lawyer's home, as well as one held in California by the top securities class-action law firm, now named Robins Geller Rudman & Dowd.
They weren't the only ones lobbying against this bill, which was a first-of-its-kind proposal aimed squarely at "patent trolls." Universities and invention promotion groups like Edison Nation were vocal throughout the process, and Leahy noted the university opposition in his statement killing the bill. Companies that rely on heavy patent licensing as part of their business, including Qualcomm and Dolby, lobbied through the Innovation Alliance.
While those groups may celebrate the end of this bill, they weren't able to orchestrate the political shutdown that occurred Wednesday. "They were active throughout the entire process, but they don't have that kind of money, power, and juice," said the tech sector lobbyist. "This was entirely done by the pharmaceutical industry and the trial lawyers."
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