MVA Litigation Blog

The House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade considered and approved the Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters Act of 2014 (“TROL Act”) with a 13-6 vote.  The purpose of the TROL Act is to establish that certain bad faith communications made in connection with the assertion of a United States patent are considered unfair or deceptive acts or practices under section 5(a)(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 45(a)(1)).  The Act was passed with minor amendment to the provision that establishes an affirmative defense that statements, representations, or omissions were not made in bad faith.  Prior to the vote, the Committee reported that many stakeholders had voiced support of the Act and provided a sampling of the comments received.  You can access additional information, including transcripts from the Subcommittee markup and vote here.