Sen. Claire McCaskill (D., Mo.), a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, has introduced a bill that would direct the Federal Trade Commission to adopt rules prohibiting unfair or deceptive statements in "demand letters" alleging patent infringement and requiring the letters to include certain minimum disclosures about the alleged infringement and patent rights holder. The proposed Transparency in Assertion of Patents (S 2049) specifies some of the actions that would be deemed unfair or deceptive, such as falsely threatening administrative or judiciary recourse, making statements that lack "a reasonable basis in fact or law," or making an assertion "that is likely to materially mislead a reasonable intended recipient," but it also leaves room for the FTC to further define unfair or deceptive assertions.
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