Patent Assertion Entity Activity

competition, innovation, and intellectual property issues. For example, as discussed above, this
lack of empirical data has already complicated GAO’s attempts to study PAE activity.
The Commission believes that the proposed study will enable it to provide a more
comprehensive descriptive picture of PAE structure, organization, acquisition, and assertion
behavior, which will assist many organizations and individuals to understand more fully the
scope of PAE activity in the economy. This one-time collection will not create a repetitive
burden for respondents. As described in the responses to the comments, the Commission has
endeavored to minimize the burden of the information requests by carefully limiting them to the
information necessary to complete the study and by providing a template to assist in the
organization and submission of the data.
7. Circumstances Requiring Collection Inconsistent with Guidelines
The collection of information in the proposed survey is consistent with all applicable
guidelines contained in 5 C.F.R. § 1320.5(d)(2).
8. Public Comments/Consultation Outside the Agency and Actions Taken
As required by 5 C.F.R. § 1320.8(d), the Commission published a notice seeking public
comment on the proposed collections of information, and, consistent with 5 C.F.R. § 1320.10(a)
is doing so again contemporaneous with this submission. To maximize transparency, and support
robust commenting, the Commission published all of the questions that it proposed to direct to
respondents. The Commission also extended the comment deadline in response to requests for
additional time to respond.
The Commission received 70 comments on the proposed information collection requests.
Responses came from a wide variety of commenters including Intellectual Ventures, Acacia
Research Corporation, Microsoft, Intel, Qualcomm, Apple, Nokia and Verizon. A number of
professional and bar associations, such as the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO),
the American Antitrust Institute (AAI), and the American Intellectual Property Law Association
(AIPLA), also submitted comments, together with trade associations representing both small and
large businesses. 26 In addition, the Commission received comments from a number of law
professors and attorneys general, 27 individual inventors, attorneys, and interested members of the
public. 28
Almost all commenters recognized the lack of existing public information and expressed
support for a study of PAE activity. Some commenters proposed ways to increase the utility, or
26
These include the National Restaurant Association, the Application Developers Alliance, the Food Marketing
Institute, the Consumer Electronics Association, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, the Direct
Marketing Association, and the Software & Information Industry Association.
27
This includes Professors Michael Risch (Villanova University), Robin Feldman (University of California,
Hastings) and Jorge Contreras(American University), as well as Kamala Harris, Attorney General of California and
the National Association of Attorneys General, joined by the Attorneys General of 43 states.
28
See, e.g., comments of Philip Conrad, Todd Glassey and William Redmann.
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