Wall Street Journal opinion piece criticizes patent "reform"

From the Wall Street Journal opinion piece:


Some big businesses appear to ignore patents owned by individuals and small businesses thinking their potential infringement won’t be challenged. They
are lobbying hard for the pending legislation mentioned in Mr. Malanga’s piece to make it extremely risky for individuals and small businesses to sue infringers. If they are successful, patents will no longer be financially feasible for most individuals and small businesses, making their innovations and development results much less valuable, leading to a huge disincentive to their research and development. This will greatly reduce technical progress.




Link: http://www.wsj.com/articles/remember-what-a-patent-is-supposed-to-protect-1442259488

The "extremely risky" comment likely refers to the presumption of "loser pays" in Goodlatte's
Innovation Act.

If a smaller entity, such as an individual inventor or university, sues an alleged infringer, and loses,
that smaller entity will have to pay lawyers to show "why" it should not pay the alleged infringer's legal fees.