On Nov. 20, the House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 3309, legislation to deal with the growing problem posed by “patent trolls” bringing frivolous patent infringement litigation. Recently, REALTORS® have been impacted by patent trolls seeking licensing fees for use of common business technologies including scanner-copiers and website search alerts. The legislation includes a package of proposed fixes that is intended to limit patent licensing demands to legitimate claims of patent infringement.
NAR supports HR 3309 as well as a group of companion bills in the Senate.