WASHINGTON—CUNA and NAFCU, along with nine other financial service industry trade groups, sent a letter Wednesday to members of Congress urging them to address patent reform.
The groups, which include the American Bankers Association, named three key principles that, if enacted through legislation, would improve the patent system, promote innovation and discourage the assertion of low-quality patents as a legitimate business model:
- Efficiency of the litigation process: improvements need to be made to make the cost and burdens of patent litigation equitable and more efficient.
- Enhanced transparency: abuse of the patent system through the use of vaguely worded demand letters must be ended by requiring such letters to provide more details about the patent and who claims to assert it.
- Patent quality: improvements are needed in the post-grant review of patents, such as making the covered business method permanent and more useable for smaller entities.
The letter explained that the financial services industry has faced “deceptive demand letters and frivolous litigation from patent trolls asserting low-quality patents. The undersigned national trade associations . . . are writing you today to urge Congress to address the scourge that patent trolls continue to have on, collectively, the millions of customers we serve across the nation.
The group added they have “serious concerns” about the current patent litigation environment as well as the quality of patents granted by the Patent and Trademark Office. “In addition, patent trolls continue to assert low-quality patents through vaguely worded demand letters with the full knowledge that their targets, our members, are more likely to pay unnecessary licensing agreements than engage in lengthy, costly litigation. The deadweight cost of compliance with demand letters and the threat of litigation is ultimately born by our customers.”
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