The National Retail Federation has formed a new coalition aimed at curbing abuse of the patent system.
The broad business coalition, United for Patent Reform, is comprised of grocery, hotel, retail, restaurant and technology associations and companies, according to a press release.
"Patent trolls have abused our patent system with their coercive bribery schemes for far too long," said NRF senior vice president for government relations David French. "Main Street businesses and our allies in Silicon Valley have had enough and are fighting back in an all out effort."
Patent trolls are firms that buy obscure or vague patents with the purpose of extracting licensing agreements and settlement payments by threatening companies with claims of infringement.
Core principles of the coalition include heightened pleading requirements, customer and end-user protection, legal fee recovery and litigation alternatives.
The NRF reports that retailers of all types and sizes have been victimized by this practice, which costs the U.S. economy roughly $30 billion a year.
