Obama Orders Patent Changes to Combat Owners Called Trolls

President Barack Obama announced a series of actions aimed at protecting technology, finance and retail companies from lawsuits and demands for fees by businesses that abuse the patent system.

The crackdown on what critics have called “patent trolls” includes five executive actions and seven recommendations that require congressional action. A White House commission report said more than 100,000 companies were threatened with infringement last year by patent-assertion entities -- companies whose sole business is to obtain patents and use them to obtain royalties from businesses that make or use products and services.