U.S. Senate gets bill clamping down on 'patent trolls'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two leading U.S. senators introduced a bill on Monday aimed at making it harder for "patent trolls" to file frivolous infringement lawsuits.

Patent assertion entities (PAEs), called patent trolls by critics, are companies that typically do not invent or make products but buy patents to obtain licensing fees or file infringement lawsuits. Lawsuits have been triggered by the use of such common technologies as a coffeehouse offering wireless internet access to customers or a hotel using online ordering.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, chair of the Judiciary Committee, and Senator Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, introduced a bill that would require patent holders to disclose ownership and allow manufacturers to step into lawsuits to protect customers accused of using an infringing device, the two lawmakers said in a statement.

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