WASHINGTON — Credit unions and banks are teaming up to fight a common enemy: patent trolls.
CUNA, American Bankers Association and Independent Community Bankers Association co-wrote a letter to the leaders of the Senate Commerce Committee to show their support for the Transparency in Assertion of Patents Act, S. 2049.
Sens. John Rockefeller (D-WV) and John Thune (R-SD) introduced the bill designed to help financial institutions decipher "vague and misleading demand letters" from so-called patent trolls.
"This legislation takes an important step toward addressing the exponentially growing threat of Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs), commonly referred to as 'patent trolls,' that assert patents of dubious quality against legitimate businesses, including banks and credit unions," the financial trades wrote. "S. 2049 takes specific aim at the problem of unfair and deceptive demand letters, but does not affect the rights of legitimate patent holders to send demand letters or otherwise assert their patent rights."
Patent trolls can send out hundreds of "demand letters" to credit unions and banks and a variety of merchants, citing the use of technology that they allege is in violation of a patent they own. The financial institutions are then offered the opportunity to pay a licensing fee for the privilege of using the technology — for example, a couple thousand dollars per ATM — or face a lawsuit.
This is not the first time CUNA, ABA and ICBA have shown a united front on this issue, having also lauded similar legislation in the House.
