Today, members of USIJ sent a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI) warning them of the harm Chairman Goodlatte's patent reform bill, HR 9 - The Innovation Act, poses for individual inventors and startups. The bill's fee shifting, discovery, and joinder provisions are all specifically mentioned as compounding problems that will hurt the ability for small companies to defend their intellectual property.