Referencing the recently-enacted America Invents Act President Obama did not have kind things to say about such entities: "A couple years ago we began a process of patent reform. We actually passed some legislation that made progress on some of these issues. But it hasn't captured all the problems. The folks that you're talking about are a classic example. They don't actually produce anything themselves. They're just trying to essentially leverage and hijack somebody else's idea and see if they can extort some money out of them."
Whatever one's views, I am excited as an IP professional to see this issue discussed in the same forum where questions on immigration reform, government transparency and drone strikes were addressed. Ms. Fried's question is yet another example of how IP policy has become a vital issue of our time.