Internet Chairmen and CEOs Send Letter Urging Congress To Pass Strong Patent Reform Legislation

Letter: “A flawed patent system remains one of the biggest threats to our companies, and frivolous patent lawsuits are at all-time highs.”

Washington, D.C. – Today, Chairmen and CEOs of America’s leading Internet companies submitted a letter to Congressional House Leadership, urging them to support the Innovation Act, a bill that creates more protections for our nation’s patent holders, while removing the threat of frivolous patent troll litigation.

“If enacted, the Innovation Act will enable innovators like us to get back to the business of doing what we do best, namely creating the jobs and services that help run our economy,” the letter states. “A flawed patent system remains one of the biggest threats to our companies, and frivolous patent lawsuits are at all-time highs.”

The letter calls attention to emerging trends in 2015 that further signal the need for a legislative solution to our unwieldy patent system. In 2013, patent troll litigation reached a record high, up 13 percent over 2012, with more than a tenfold increase over the past decade. More recently, in the first quarter of 2015, lawsuits brought by patent trolls rose 42 percent from the end of 2014, costing billions of dollars that could otherwise be put toward further innovation and job creation.

“Though innovation has long been a critical hallmark of the American enterprise system, the recent uptick in patent troll litigation is undermining the jobs and economic growth made possible by our nation’s greatest innovators,” said Michael Beckerman, president and CEO of the Internet Association. “The passage of the Innovation Act would be a positive step to address the current flaws of our existing patent system, protecting innovators from frivolous litigation down the road. Comprehensive patent reform is long overdue and must be enacted by Congress as soon as possible to prevent further economic damage.”

Signatories of the letter are: Chad Dickerson – Etsy; Michelle Peluso – Gilt; Kevin Ryan – Gilt, MongoDB, Business Insider, Zola; Eric Schmidt – Google; Jeff Weiner – LinkedIn; Ben Silbermann – Pinterest; Taylor Rhodes – Rackspace; Stephen Kaufer – TripAdvisor; Jack Dorsey – Twitter; Marissa Mayer – Yahoo; Jeremy Stoppelman – Yelp.

The full letter can be viewed here.

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