Congress Continues to Focus on Patents

On the heels of the sweeping patent reforms instituted by the America Invents Act of 2011, there are several other pieces of legislation that would fill in some of the blanks omitted by the AIA.  In particular, these new proposals offer fixes for federal patent litigation rules.  This week, Senator Cornyn (R-TX) introduced the "Patent Abuse Reduction Act of 2013" (S. 1013),  which aims to reduce unnecessary and "abusive" patent litigation.  The bill would require plaintiffs to disclose their identities and the substance of their claim upon filing suit, heighten pleading requirements and limit discovery until after claim construction is completed.  In addition to the Patent Abuse Reduction Act, Congress is also considering the "Saving High-tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes" (SHIELD) Act (H.R. 6245), introduced by Congressman de Fazio (D-OR), which would introduce a one-way fee shifting system that would require losing plaintiffs to cover the attorney fees incurred by successful defendants.  It will be interesting to analyze how these proposals move forward as Congress considers other key legislative packages throughout the year, and the battle to combat the growing patent troll problem wages on.