The American Apparel & Footwear Association welcomed the passage of the Innovation Act of 2013 by the U.S. House of Representatives. The Innovation Act would reform patent troll litigation abuse by leveling the playing field for plaintiffs and defendants, protecting end users from patent trolls, and improving the quality of patent requirements.
"It is time to end the abusive and frivolous lawsuits perpetuated by nuisance patent trolls," said AAFA President and CEO Kevin M. Burke. "The U.S. apparel and footwear industry, like so many other industries across our economy, will face continued threats of unwarranted litigation unless we reign in this behavior. The Innovation Act is a step in the right direction."
"As the legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration, there is still opportunity to improve key provisions of this important legislation," said Burke. "While we support the intent of the Innovation Act, we urge Congress to go further in preventing this abusive practice by strengthening key provisions of the bill. For example, the customer stay of enforcement provision, which would require any customers of a product to be subject to the outcome of the initial lawsuit no matter what that outcome is, should be more limited in scope."
