WASHINGTON, D.C. – Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) President Rhett Dawson called the bipartisan patent reform bill released today by Rep. Lamar Smith a very positive step forward for the tech industry. Smith, the Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, led a bipartisan group of three Republicans and three Democrats on his subcommittee in introducing the bill today.

"Though we’re in the early stages of this debate, this appears to be a great bill for high tech," Dawson said. "This bill takes significant steps to improve patent quality, prevent patent trolls from gaming the system, and reduce the costly lawsuits that thwart innovation and keep new products from reaching consumers."

In recent years the tech industry has faced increasing threats from "patent trolls," companies or individuals that do not manufacture or invent anything, but merely own patents. The business model of these firms is to make money by forcing other companies to pay licensing fees for questionable patent claims. Patent trolls game the legal system in the hopes of inflicting the nuisance value of a settlement.

ITI, the lead lobbying association for the high tech industry, has made patent reform one of its top priorities this year and is actively lobbying Congress to pass legislation that will both ensure higher quality patents and cut down on the frivolous patent lawsuits that discourage innovation. ITI’s 32 member companies were awarded a total of 16,537 patents in 2004.

ABOUT ITI

The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) is an elite group of the nation's top high-tech companies and is widely recognized as the tech industry's most effective lobbying organization in Washington. ITI helps member companies achieve their policy objectives through building relationships with Members of Congress, Administration officials, and foreign governments; organizing industry-wide consensus on policy issues; and working to enact tech-friendly government policies.

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