President Obama has consistently underscored the link between homegrown innovation and economic recovery, and now The White House is shining a light on the exploitative entities standing in the way of American inventors. This week the administration released a set of five executive actions and seven legislative recommendations designed to root out frivolous litigation and promote higher standards of patent quality.

"Innovators who fear inadvertently infringing existing patents may reduce innovative activity or take costly steps to defend against lawsuits claiming infringement, leading to fewer resources available for wages, job creation and innovation of new products and services," the President's Council of Economic Advisers stated in a simultaneously released commercial impact study.

From the executive branch, President Obama has targeted expanded assessment of available patent management mechanisms, strengthened enforcement of ITC exclusion orders and dedicated education of downstream users as key action points to be pursued.

The administration will be looking for complementary action from Congress as well, including requiring more transparent disclosures of the real party-in-interest for infringement lawsuits, expanding the USPTO's transitional program for covered business method patents and reforming the ITC standard for securing injunctions against competitors.