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On Wednesday, March 25, 2015, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet held a hearing entitled “Protecting American Innovators and Job Creators from Abusive Patent Litigation.” As part of his opening statement, Chairman Bob Goodlatte showed a video created by the United for Patent Reform Coalition, of which NAR is a member, which features testimonials from American businesses that have been impacted by patent trolls. Included in the video is JB Goodwin, a REALTOR® from Austin, TX, who was sued by a patent troll. Patent reform is crucial to REALTORS® as the real estate industry is more and more dependent on the use of information technology and software products to market properties and manage their businesses. Frivolous patent infringement lawsuits for everyday business practices are impacting REALTORS® and causing them to divert resources away from offering new features or investment in technologies that enhance the real estate experience. NAR continues to urge Congress to act swiftly to enact meaningful demand letter reform, which will deter the patent troll business model of extracting settlements by sending deceptive settlement demands.
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