Yesterday afternoon, Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) introduced the Demand Letter Transparency Act, H.R. 1896. The bill targets the abusive sending of letters asserting patent infringement and demanding payment. The bill would require large-volume demand letter senders to disclose their activities to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and it would require demand letters to include certain disclosures of information to ensure that recipients of those letters are fairly informed.
The following may be attributed to Charles Duan, Director of the Patent Reform Project at Public Knowledge:
“The Demand Letter Transparency Act comes at a time when American consumers and small businesses are demanding protection from abusive, misleading and deceptive patent demand letters. By requiring demand letters to be disclosed to the Patent and Trademark Office and by requiring them to provide recipients with truthful, essential disclosures of information, the bill tackles ongoing problems and protects consumers.
“Prevention of demand letter abuse is obviously only one part of a much larger patent reform effort, but it is a critical part of that effort. We look forward to working with Mr. Polis and members of Congress on this important and timely issue.”
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