This Year’s Fight for the Tech Industry: Patent Trolls

That's the term used to describe businesses that buy up vague software patents for the sole purpose of suing tech companies, particularly startups that have few legal resources, scare easily and are quick to settle.

Kevin Kramer, Yahoo's deputy general counsel, was expected to tell the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that patent trolls have cost his company $100 million since 2007. He says that's money that could have been spent creating jobs and conducting research.

The House passed a patent reform bill last year, but it never made it to the Senate floor. Universities, pharmaceutical companies and trial lawyers opposed the legislation. They say they don't want to make it harder to defend patents.

(Story by: Anne Flaherty, The Associated Press)