Mr Bruning is planning to call for interstate co-operation in the Senate in order to crack down on companies which send out numerous letters threatening legal action over an alleged patent infringement. Speaking in general about the practice, he said: 'It is a pure scam. They used to be going after big companies, but now it has changed to consumers, small businesses, and even nonprofit organizations.' He continued: 'I plan to call for a coalition of states. This is worthy of it, like with the tobacco cases.'

'Blatant disregard'

But Brett Johnson of Farney Daniels said the Nebraska Attorney General seemed 'to consistently fail to understand, or blatantly disregard the standards of federal patent law. The practice of sending a letter to a business that may be infringing on a patent, prior to seeking a license agreement or bringing suit, is permitted by federal patent law. In some cases this can be a required step in the due diligence process by a patent owner.' More information is available from Omaha.com.