Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) is taking the fight against patent trolls to Google+ Hangouts.
At 11:45am ET today, Schumer will join Michael Beckerman, president and CEO of Internet industry lobbying group The Internet Association, in a “Stop Bad Patents” online panel to discuss reforms meant to limit what The Internet Association calls “reckless harm” caused by patent trolls.
Schumer’s Google+ Hangouts appearance comes as the Senate continues to craft a patent reform bill aimed to match the bipartisan success of the Innovation Act, which passed with a 395-91 vote in the House last December.
The Senate’s patent reform legislation, introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), went before the Senate Judiciary Committee late last week, but was shelved until the Committee meets on Thursday, April 3, to allow for additional changes to the bill. Schumer, along with Committee Members Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), agreed to delay consideration of Leahy’s bill until Thursday.
“I don’t think we should pass a bill if it doesn’t change the system,” said Schumer, reports AdWeek. “But at the same time, we have to have minority support. We have to get a bill done.”
If you want to get up to speed with the controversy over patent reform, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has a good primer explaining what patent reform advocates hope to see from final legislation.
To join Schumer’s Google+ Hangout, simply head here at 11:45am, or watch below. And you can follow the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #stopbadpatents.
Image via Wikipedia/U.S. Congress (CC public domain)
