Opinion: Patent trolls kill economic growth

Tim Phelan is president of the Connecticut Retail Merchants Association

As the president of the Connecticut Retail Merchants Association, I advocate for businesses across the state. One of my jobs is to ensure that our elected officials are doing what they can to support economic growth.

Patent trolls are a serious threat to retail businesses all over the country and our representatives in Congress need to take action to protect those businesses. That’s why we’ve joined the Main Street Patent Coalition, along with our national counterparts and organizations from across the country, to speak out in favor of comprehensive patent reform.

Patent trolls are entities that threaten main street businesses with frivolous lawsuits over vaguely crafted or poorly worded patents. Usually, the patent troll wins a settlement because small businesses do not have the resources to fight it out in court. In fact, most trolls wouldn’t stand a chance to win and so they rely on scare tactics to extract a settlement. If the business does go to court, they end up spending money that could have been reinvested in their company. Our out-dated patent laws have created an environment ripe for this type of abuse.

See the complete story at CT News Junkie.