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On June 5, the White House announced an initiative to curb the use of patents by patent holders as a tool for "frivolous litigation," and to protect "Main Street retailers, consumers and other end-users of productions containing patented technology."
The Initiative announced five Executive Orders intended “to help bring about greater transparency to the patent system and level the playing field for innovators” and seven legislative recommendations—most of which are already under consideration by congress.
Patent “trolls” have targeted MLSs and associations in the past over location based mapping technologies and currently brokers are receiving letters demanding licensing fees for use of networked scanner copiers. NAR recognizes that patent trolls can have a significant negative impact on our members. NAR supports efforts to curb patent litigation abuse and is working both individually and with a large coalition of industries to ensure that the legislation that ultimately emerges from this process is as strong as possible.