Big business lobbyists are winning an obscure -- but hugely consequential -- battle over the future of the judicial system. If these lobbyists continue to get their way, small businesses and their workers will be the biggest losers.

The lobbyists are quietly waging their battle in state legislatures across the country and also in our nation's capital. They recently scored another victory in Georgia, which became the latest of several states to pass legislation that makes it harder for small businesses to sue larger companies that steal their technology. And Congress is considering making a similar change at the national level through the deceptively named Litigation Transparency Act.

Proponents say these bills will increase fairness and accountability in the legal system -- specifically, in patent infringement lawsuits. But in reality, the bills will tilt the playing field in favor of large corporate patent infringers -- and deal a massive blow to the small innovators who drive America's high-tech economy.

The bills make it easier for big companies to engage in "efficient infringement" -- in which they make the calculated decision to steal patented technology from smaller firms and startups, instead of licensing it and paying a royalty as required by law. When the victim sues for compensation, the large company uses its........

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