Washington, D.C., December 16, 2013—Michael Makin, President & CEO, Printing Industries of America, has been invited by Senator Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to testify on the subject of “Protecting Small Businesses and Promoting Innovation by Limiting Patent Troll Abuse.” The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The hearing will be broadcast live on Tuesday on the Senate Judiciary Committee website. The link will go live when the hearing begins at 10:00 a.m. EST on Tuesday, December 17, 2013.

Curbing abusive patent litigation practices (aka “patent trolls”) that have targeted printing companies by an alarming rate this year is a key policy initiative for Printing Industries of America. The future of print depends heavily on innovation and technology. Therefore, America’s printing and graphic communications industry applauds efforts on Capitol Hill to enact legislation that roots out the patent trolls. This will allow printers large and small the freedom to redefine print through the use of new technologies while doing what print has always done best: creating jobs.

Makin will testify along with John J. Dwyer, Jr., President & CEO, New England Federal Credit Union; Dana Rao, Vice President and Associate General Counsel for Intellectual Property Litigation, Adobe Systems, Inc.; Philip S. Johnson, Senior Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Counsel, Johnson & Johnson, Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform; Steve Bossone, Ph.D., Vice President, Intellectual Property, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals; Harry A. Wolin, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, AMD; and The Honorable Q. Todd Dickinson, Executive Director, American Intellectual Property Law Association, Former Under Secretary for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Printing Industries of America looks forward to engaging in conversation with the Senate Judiciary Committee as it seeks legislative solutions to address this problem.