Congress: Reform Those Patents
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Devastating litigation is strangling the current system, which desperately needs reforms.
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The goal is to improve the quality of patents, which should curb the rising wave of patent disputes and lawsuits, the director of the government's patent office said.
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Big Blue's decision to open patents to public scrutiny could spur innovation.
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Two professors argue that seemingly innocuous reforms have caused a shift away from encouraging innovation in favor of exploiting patents largely for lawsuits.
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Time is running out for Congress to pass real reform before the elections. But a commonsense plan from an unlikely Congressman may be gaining momentum
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Lawmakers returning from their summer break are expected to consider patent law changes that have pitted two of America's most invention-dependent industries against each other.
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Could bring US patent awards in line with rest of world A proposed law revolutionising US patent legislation has passed through a vital committee of the House of Representatives. The bill has got further than previous attempts at such reform.â¦
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Some tech groups are beginning to worry that major IT industry priorities, including patent reform, may lose out to other priorities in the U.S. Congress this year.In the last couple of weeks, large tech companies have renewed their push for patent reform legislation in the U.S. Congress, despite opposition from U.S. President George Bush&#39;s administration and some labor unions.The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) is concerned that a congressional debate over an economic stimulus package, plus typical election-year gridlock, could hurt the prospects for patent reform and other tech priorities, said Michael Wendy, a spokesman for the trade group.The House of Representatives&#39; economic stimulus package includes tax write-offs for small business purchase of equipment, which could include computers, Wendy said. That&#39;s a good move, but patent reform, a research and development tax credit, H-1B visa reform, and other issues remain undone, he said.&quot;We hope that Congress -- assuming they pass an [economic stimulus] package -- doesn&#39;t just say, &#39;Well, we gave you some favorable tax provisions that will help boost industry activity and have a long-tail effect on the economy, so that should be enough for you guys this session,&#39;&quot; Wendy said last week. &quot;One thing we&#39;re concerned about is that the economic stimulus bill may be seen by Congress as a &#39;get out of jail free&#39; card when it comes to other of our tech policy agenda.&quot;The House in September passed a patent reform bill -- supported by many large tech vendors, but&#160;opposed by several small tech companies&#160;-- but similar legislation has been stalled in the Senate. Large tech vendors, including Microsoft, IBM, and Symantec, have&#160;called for patent reform, saying it&#39;s too easy for companies with no intention of creating products to buy up patents and file multimillion-dollar infringement lawsuits against other companies.On Jan. 22, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said patent reform was a priority, but it was in a line behind several other bills, including an economic stimulus package and a government surveillance authorization bill. The Senate would turn to patent reform, &quot;time permitting,&quot; he said then.&quot;On patent reform, we must carefully strike the right balance with a bill that promotes rather than blocks innovation from enterprising entrepreneurs,&quot; Reid added.The Senate Judiciary Committee approved its version of the Patent Reform Act on Jan. 24, and the bill is awaiting action in the full Senate.But earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Commerce sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee raising concerns about the bill. The letter, outlining the Bush administration&#39;s views, focused on a section of the bill that would apportion infringement damages in a new way. Currently, courts generally consider the value of the entire product when a small piece of the product infringes a patent; the bill would allow courts to base damages only on the value of the infringing piece.The wide-ranging bill would also allow a new way to challenge patents after they are issued.That provision would &quot;create more problems than it solves,&quot; said the Commerce Department letter, signed by Nathaniel Wienecke, the agency&#39;s assistant secretary for legislative and intergovernmental affairs. &quot;The administration believes that such a dramatic change from current jurisprudence may have the unintended consequence of reducing the rewards of innovation and encouraging patent infringement,&quot; Wienecke wrote.Both sides can still work out their differences, Wienecke added.In addition, 14 labor unions, including the United Steelworkers, the Patent Office Professional Association and the Communications Workers of America, sent a letter to Senators Wednesday, saying they were concerned about the patent bill. &quot;Key parts of the proposed legislation may have the effect of increasing the likelihood of American inventions being stolen by our international competitors and, consequently, inhibiting sorely needed new investment in domestic manufacturing,&quot; the letter said.Still, some representatives of the tech industry say they&#39;re hopeful that patent reform can move forward.Senators, representatives of the Bush administration and other interested parties have been meeting regularly &quot;to find balanced solutions on all the issues,&quot; said Mark Isakowitz, spokesman for the Coalition for Patent Fairness, a group representing several large tech companies. &quot;We respectfully disagree [with the Bush administration] on damages, but we are confident ... we can work through concerns and achieve broad consensus on the bill, which would be a victory for the administration, the Congress and our economy,&quot; he added.
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Sweeping changes to U.S. patent system have been approved by Senate and House committees. The high-tech industry is pleased, but others aren't.
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As debate on patent reform began this morning on the floor of the US House of Representatives, twelve amendments made their way through the Rules Committee, all of which appear to be designed to tweak the bill's language rather than insert any "poison pills" that would ensure its failure.
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The Patents (Third) Amendment Bill, which might be tabled in Parliament during the coming winter session, is a Bill which will pave the way for a new patent law.
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(InfoWorld) - Patent reform legislation before the U.S. Congress would kill the value of patents and allow companies from other countries to steal U.S. intellectual property, a group of inventors said Thursday. About 20 inventors and U.S. company executives, visiting Washington, D.C., encouraged Congress to defeatÂ the Patent Reform Act, a version of which passed the House of Representatives earlier this month. The Senate has not yet voted on its version of the bill. The legislation "will weaken the patent system," said Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway and the AutoSyringe. "It will devalue patents. It will be a disincentive for people to invest in the future." Several large tech vendors, including Microsoft, IBM, and Cisco, support the legislation, which would allow courts to change they way they assess damages in patent infringement cases. Currently, courts generally consider the value of the entire product when a small piece of the product infringes a patent, and the legislation would allow courts to base damages only on the value of the infringing piece. The legislation would also allow a new way to challenge patents after they've been granted. Supporters say the bill is needed because patent infringement lawsuits have gotten out of hand. It's too easy for patent holders to sue and collect huge damage awards when a small piece of a tech product is found to infringe, supporters argue. Microsoft this month praised the House passage of the legislation, saying lawmakers voted to "support American innovation and to preserve incentives for progress." But Peter Volanakis, president and COO of Corning, said the legislation would be an invitation for its competitors in Asia to repeatedly challenge his company's patents. "This encourages infringement, plain and simple," he said. "It is much easier to infringe patents with this legislation." The patent reform legislation would also "undermine" Corning's ability to invest in new products, Volanakis added. Steve Perlman, inventor of WebTV and lead developer of Apple's QuickTime, said he was surprised to learn of the legislation when he read of the House passage of the bill. As he's begun to contact lawmakers about his opposition to the legislation, their staffers are "stunned" to hear of tech startups that are opposed to the bill, Perlman said. Small inventors and startups were mostly ignored during hearings on the bill, Perlman added. One of the goals of the bill is to harmonize U.S. patent laws with the rest of the world. But the U.S. now has the best environment for startups and entrepreneurs, Perlman said. "I don't want to have the startup economy they have," he said. "I want the one we have." Perlman, founder and CEO of Rearden, and Kamen, founder of DEKA Research & Development, both said changes to the U.S. patent system are needed. But the legislation largely doesn't address the real needs -- more patent examiners and more money for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, they said. Perlman has a patent he applied for five years ago still awaiting examination, he said. "Let's first make the system we've got today work the way it's supposed to work," Perlman said. Congress should also wait to see the effects of a May 2006 Supreme Court ruling, in which justices overturned the long-held practice of issuing injunctions against infringing products in nearly all patent cases, Perlman said. That ruling should have a large effect on so-called patent trolls, he said. "There already has been a huge change" in U.S. patent law because of the Supreme Court ruling, he said.
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Watch out when litigation trumps innovation.
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(InfoWorld) - Five consumer groups have given their support to legislation that would overhaul the U.S. patent system, saying the bill would create fairer penalties for infringement. The Patent Reform Act of 2007 could come before the U.S. House of Representatives for a vote as soon as this week despiteÂ objections from some labor unions, small inventors, and some small tech vendors. The bill, backed by several large tech vendors, also found support from Consumer Federation of America, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Knowledge Ecology International, Public Knowledge, and U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "Numerous flaws have emerged within the current patent system that can foster poor quality patents and invite uncertainty that inflates the risk and cost of litigation, especially in the areas of software and online services," the consumer advocacy groups said in a Friday letter to congressional leaders. The groups support two controversial sections of the bill that allow for a new way to challenge patents after they've been granted and change the way patent awards are calculated based on apportionment of damages. Currently, courts generally consider the value of the entire product when a small piece of the product infringes a patent, but supporters of the bills want Congress to base damages only on the value of the infringing piece. The apportionment provision would "encourage courts to limit damages for infringement so that they bear some relationship to the actual value of the damage to the patent owner," the groups said. The bill's post-grant review process would allow challenges within a year of a patent being granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. "This provision would provide a comparatively inexpensive and quick means to ensure the validity of issues patents before litigation becomes necessary," the groups said. Tech vendors, including Microsoft, IBM, and Cisco, have argued that the USPTO often approves questionable patents and that it's too easy for patent holders to sue, collect huge damages, and shut down product lines that have a small infringing piece. But since late July, three labor unions, including the giant AFL-CIO, have written letters to congressional leaders raising objections to the patent-reform legislation. The United Steelworkers letter said nearly 70 percent of patents filed in the U.S. come from manufacturing firms. "These bills would allow an endless loop of legal challenges after patents are awarded that will make it more difficult for U.S. patent holders to prevail against frivolous challenges," the letter said. The Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform, whose members include Motorola, SanDisk, and Texas Instruments, has also opposed the legislation. "We believe a number of senators and members of Congress ... have expressed concerns with the bill and a desire to further work on the bill," coalition spokesman Bill Mashek, said earlier this month. The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved its own version of the Patent Reform Act, and that bill is awaiting action in the full Senate.
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The initiative is evidence that U.S. companies and universities are searching for ways to be less hampered by legal wrangling about who holds the patents to research.
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Congress dithers, and investors should beware.
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Executives and lobbyists from some  of America's richest and most influential companies are walking  the halls of Congress, buttonholing senators to argue for  strong patents to preserve U.S. innovation.