A patent reform bill targeting so-called trolls needs more time to mature, several groups say
The U.S. House of Representatives needs to take more time to debate and rewrite a bill targeting so-called patent trolls because several provisions would hurt legitimate patent holders, several critics of the bill said Tuesday.
The House is scheduled to vote on the Innovation Act as soon as this week, but members of the higher education, venture capital and other industries called on Congress to refine the legislation before passing it.
[ Also on InfoWorld: The latest move to kill bad patents divides tech industry. | Simon Phipps tells it like it is: Why software patents are evil. ]
The Innovation Act is good “for people who don’t like patents and would like them all to go away,” said John Vaughn, executive vice president of the Association of American Universities. University researchers often invent products that are manufactured by private companies, and the bill, as written, is “going to disrupt this …