host: the name of the company is nutritionix. gary shapiro is president and cto of the consumer electronics association which puts on ces, the show in vegas. but we are up here on capitol hill. what are we doing on capitol hill? gary: giving members of congress and their staff a peak of ek of where technology is going. this is one 100 this ties of what goes on in las vegas -- this is 1/100th the size of what is going on in las vegas. they want congress to see that this is where the future is. this is what consumers want. safety in automobiles entertainment options, privacy, personal and your identity. all sorts of great things health care and otherwise. we're coming to you, congress. there are a lot of good things happening around our country. host: what are some of the public policy issues that affect you? gary: one of the biggest by far is patent trolls. they are lawyers looking for work and they sent thousands of letters out. they buy a weak-old patent and they threaten people for having wi-fi and restaurants are using a copyi

what does nutritionix do? >> guest: we help restaurants comply with the regulations by showing their calorie counts on the menu board and helping customers see the full breakdown on interactive calculators menus and different devices. >> host: now, why are you showing your wares here at ces? i mean, how -- what kind of technology do you use to do that? >> guest: so we have nutrition calculators that we distribute for the different restaurants, and recently there was a patent troll that was going after any company that had any form of a meal builder. and, luckily, they went after a lot of large companies that had the budget to fight the troll and, bravo was able to have the patent overturned. ever since the troll went away, our company's been having huge growth. >> host: so being here on capitol hill, your issue is -- >> guest: our issue is patent reform and we are here to speak with the congress people to specifically mention which part including demand letters and indemnification clauses to help entrepreneurs

. >> tonight on "the communicators," austin meyer nutritionix founder daniel zadoff and democratic congressman hank johnson talk about patent legislation before congress. >> 97% of the people that are sued by patent trolls have to settle because they don't have the $3 million to defend themselves. 97% of them settle, they pay an average of $300,000 to the patent troll that's suing them. now, when they paid the $300,000 settlement, they're locked up under an nda a nondisclosure agreement, which is a contract that says they're never allowed to tell anybody what happened to them. >> so far this new congress seems very excited to have legislation on the topic and we're going to speak to as many congressmen as possible to discuss the issues and see what is the best way to help those entrepreneurs defend their products, but more importantly be able to run their businesses where any of these demand letters that currently exist would put a company like ours under -- >> patent reform that we are concerned with currently has to do with closing the courthouse door to those who create making it more diffi

. >> nutritionix asks if your brand is fda compliant? daniel sadoff, what do you 0. >> we help restaurants reply if fda regular legislation is by showing calorie counts on the menu boards. >> why are you showing your wares here at cef? what kind of technology? >> we have nutrition calculators we contribute for the different restaurants, and recently there was a patent troll going after any company that had any form of a meal builder and luckily they went after a lot of large companies that were able to have the budget to fight the troll and bravo was able to actually have the patent overturned, and ever since the troll went away our company has been doing much better and having huge growth. >> so being here on capitol hill your issue -- >> our issue is patent reform and we're here too speak to congress people to mention which part including demand letters and endem nick fission indication clauses to help entrepreneurs better serve their clients. >> down talked about that it patent troll. what is a patent troll. >> a nonpatent agency that