SIIA applauds the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) for their Joint Workshop on Patent Assertion Entity Activities (PAE). SIIA says today’s event is important for drawing attention to the economic and consumer harm caused by abusive patent lawsuits.

FTC Chairman Leibowitz made it clear that he fully understands the damaging effect of PAE’s and is concerned with their impact on competition and American innovation. The Chairman went so far as to say that we may be driving off a patent cliff that could stifle intellectual property innovation and competition. We share the ‘patent cliff’ concern and applaud Chairman Liebowitz for making such a strong statement about the significance of the problem.

SIIA has been a leading advocate for patent reform, and we believe a vital step forward was made in 2011 with the America Invents Act. But the fact is, patent trolls continue to damage the economy, hurt America’s tech industry and threaten innovation. Today’s workshop is important for drawing attention to the problem and we encourage the FTC and DOJ to continue to spotlight the harmful effects of patent trolls. We are hopeful that, coming out of the workshop, all parties – including the FTC, DOJ and Congress – will work together for sensible changes that allow America’s technology industry to thrive.

Keith Kupferschmid is General Counsel and SVP, Intellectual Property Policy & Enforcement at SIIA.