Arlington, VA – 12/11/2012 – Following yesterday’s Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) workshop on patent trolls, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)^® released the following statement:
 
“CEA commends the Department of Justice  and the Federal Trade Commission for organizing a joint workshop to study the impact of patent assertion entities (PAEs) on the U.S. economy. An epidemic of frivolous litigation brought by PAEs or ‘patent trolls’ is acting as an anchor on our still-recovering economy. 

“Indeed, a recent study found that patent litigation brought by PAEs – who do not create products, but simply bring lawsuits against those who do – cost U.S. software and hardware companies $29 billion in 2011 alone. Every dollar spent fighting litigation is a dollar not spent on research, developing new products or creating jobs. We hope yesterday’s workshop will generate momentum to address the patent troll problem, and we look forward to working with the DOJ, the FTC and Congress to ensure a pro-innovation patent system.”