legislation

The Hosue of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation to curb so-called patent trolls, The Legal Times' blog reports. The legislation, if enacted, would change intellectual property law "with provisions to strengthen pleading requirements, require the litigation's loser to pay for high-cost patent fights and create new rules about discovery," BLT further reports.

The Senate is expected to make its own changes to patent legislation, BLT also reports.

Patent trolls have become an increasing issue in recent years in which business entitites buy larges troves of patents and then assert them to make money by threatening lawsuits.

If you want a fascinating primer on the issue of patent trolls, then listen to the episode This American Life program did about patent trolls.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports on legislation that would change how judges are selected in Pennsylvania. Judges are "not like other politicians, who knock on doors for votes, run races with more media coverage and compile easily-digestible records of their votes," and many voters do not know about judicial candidates in any great depth, the paper reports.

"Proponents of the change, including former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, say judges' jobs shouldn't depend on fundraising prowess and popularity," the paper further reports.

Drones are and up-and-coming technology as evidenced by Amazon's plan to use drones to deliver orders. While the Federal Aviation Administration has not started regulating drones yet, states have started regulating them, according to The Hartford Courtant. But The Courant reports that Connecticut and three other states are the only ones in the country with laws that are completely silent on drones.

Illinois has become the 16th state in the country--and the largest state in America's heartland-- to authorize same-sex matrimoney, according to the Associated Press. Governor Pat Quinn signed the legislation on a desk once used by President Abraham Lincoln and at a ceremony attended by an estimated 2,300, the AP reported. The law goes into effect June 1.

Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate (and which mirrors legislation introduced in the House of Representatives) would expand the federal incentives for the adoption of electronic health records to "psychiatric hospitals, substance abuse facilities and psychologists," according to FierceEMR. Senator Rob Portman, R-Ohio's bill also would ensure that electronic health records are not medical devices to be regulated under the Food, Drugs and Cosmetics Act and limit electronic discovery of electronic health records, the web site also reported.

Hawaii became the 15th state to authorize same-sex marriage with Governor Neil Abercrombie's signature on the legislation, the Los Angeles Times reports. When the bill was in the House, "deliberations lasted for several days and included a committee hearing in which 5,000 people signed up to testify for more than 50 hours, followed by hours of debate on the House floor on nearly 30 proposed amendments."

A court challenge to the same-sex marriage law is already pending. The argument is that legislatively authorizing same-sex nuptials violates a Hawaii constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage. However, Hawaii's attorney general concluded the constitutional amendment authorized legislators to ban same-sex matrimony, but that's a step they didn't take, The LA Times also reported.

Hawaii has passed legislation to authorize same-sex marriage, the Associated Press reports. The governor is expected to sign it. Illinois also has legislation to authorize same-sex marriage, and that will be signed next week.

The Associated Press reported: "The head of Hawaii's Senate judiciary committee said Saturday he expects an amended bill legalizing gay marriage to pass easily in the Senate next week, with no changes to the measure passed by the House Friday night after two grueling floor sessions and a lengthy public hearing." The legislation would allow same-sex weddings to begin on Dec. 2 in Hawaii, the AP also reported.

We all like tax deductions (mortgage interest deduction, anyone?). Even though JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $13 billion to the Justice Department, corporate leaders also probably like the fact that they can claim a tax deduction on part of that settlement as an ordinary business expense. The Washington Post reports on the introduction of a Senate bill and a House of Representatives bill that would change "part of the law that lets companies receive tax deductions on payments made to resolve allegations of illegal conduct." Currently, companies cannot deduct portions of accords that are penalties or fines for violating the law, but  governmental "agencies, however, rarely spell out whether the entire monetary figure should be regarded as punitive."