The following statement is attributed to Gary Shapiro, president and CEO, Consumer Technology Association (CTA), regarding the reintroduction of the Trade Protection Not Troll Protection Act by Reps. Tony Cárdenas (D-CA) and Blake Farenthold (R-TX):

"Patent trolls are sapping the life from America's hard-working entrepreneurs, using extortion and frivolous patent infringement claims to smother U.S. businesses. When they are not in court, patent trolls are also clogging the International Trade Commission (ITC) with their bogus lawsuits. If Congress wants to plug the holes that allow trolls to drain $1.5 billion a week from the U.S. economy, they should stop them in the courts and at the ITC. The Trade Protection Not Troll Protection Act will prevent patent extortionists from using the ITC as a venue for shaking down American businesses.

"We commend Reps. Cárdenas and Farenthold for making the ITC less attractive to patent extortion. With such a rule in place, the ITC would be better able to focus on facilitating trade and keeping counterfeit foreign products out of our country."