The $130 Million "Anti-Troll Coalition" Has The Financial Power To Have A Major Say In The Reform Debate

A guiding principle for anyone observing the political process in Washington DC is, of course, to follow the money. In the patent world that is being given new meaning as the main players in the legislative reform debate swell the coffers of the US capital's lobbyists.

One new coalition is United for Patent Reform, a broad range of companies including tech giants Google, Facebook and Amazon, and representatives from more Main Street businesses including the National Restaurant Association, the National Retail Federation and the American Hotel and Lodging Association. It's an uncompromisingly  pro-reform group with some serious clout; something that is confirmed by a quick calculation of how many lobbying dollars the coalition's players spent last year.

According to filings for 2014 compiled by Opensecrets.org, the 34 separate members of United for Patent Reform spent just under $129m million on lobbying activities. Two members – Google and the National Association of Realtors - made the top 20 of biggest spenders, with the realtors coming in at number two with an outlay of $55.057 million. 

Not all that money is going to patent reform, far from it. For instance, while new legislation is on the priority list for many tech players, their DC interests also include net neutrality, surveillance and immigration. Neither do these numbers capture all DC-related spending by the coalition's members, but they do serve as a proxy for influence in DC's corridors of power. The simple fact is that if you spend a bucket-load of cash, then you get access to legislators and their staffs – and they will listen to what you say, even if what you are advocating may not always be a major priority for them. 

When you also consider the reach that several of these associations have into Main Street businesses, and that former Deputy White House Counsel  Susan Davies is chief counsel for the new group, it's clear that United for Patent Reform adds up to perhaps the most potent coalition on either side of the reform debate. It is also one that  explicitly states its case is anti-patent troll.

Yesterday, USPTO deputy director Michelle Lee, who is soon expected to be confirmed as the agency's permanent director, stated that she regarded  the term troll as "unhelpful" and that the focus should not be on business models but on behaviours and patent quality. In the past, House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte  has made similar noises. On the face of it, therefore, it is hard to see how either he or the Obama administration can support legislation framed in the way advocated by United for Patent Reform. Dollars, though, may well end up trumping logic.      

Top 10 spenders on lobbying in United for Patent Reform in 2014

Source: opensecrets.org

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