By Donald Zuhn --
On Tuesday, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) engaged in a brief but enlightening discussion on the Senate floor regarding the state of Senate's patent reform bill. Senator Leahy, the sponsor of the Senate patent reform bill (S.1145), opened the discussion by noting that since the bill was introduced in the Senate last April, "a great many changes were made to improve and perfect the bill," including "changes on the key issues of enhancing patent quality, clarifying rules on infringement and compensation of inventors, and improving the ability of the Patent and Trademark Office to do its job well."
Senator Hatch responded by observing that "[U.S. patent] law has not seen a major revision since 1952," and that "[m]uch has changed since then." Senator Hatch added that while "[t]he courts have struggled valiantly to interpret the law in ways that make sense in light of change, . . . that piecemeal process has left many areas unclear and some areas of the law out of balance."
The two Senators agreed that "now is the time to enact patent reform," with Senator Leahy requesting that the Senate bill be taken up "as early in the new year as possible." The Senator recognized that a number of Judiciary Committee members had "expressed a strong view that the bill should be further perfected before it comes to a vote on the floor of the Senate," and committed to working closely with these members to make further improvements to the bill.
Acknowledging that he was one of the Committee members seeking further improvements, Senator Hatch (at left) singled out the bill's treatment of inequitable conduct as one of the areas in which the Senate bill required work. Noting that Senator Leahy had done a good job "initiating" the process of develop an effective solution to "the problem of the inequitable conduct defense" during Judiciary Committee deliberations in July, Senator Hatch argued that "more must be done to change the use of this defense as an unfair litigation tactic." The Senator contended that with further refinements to the bill's inequitable conduct provision (as well as to the bill's provisions on damages, post-grant review, and venue), the Senate bill would "garner even greater support." Reflecting on his work on the Drug Price Competition and Patent Restoration Act (the Hatch-Waxman Act), Senator Hatch argued that the final Senate bill must "promote and protect a structure that fosters a strong and vibrant environment for innovators," or suffer the consequences of "fewer and fewer drugs."
Senator Leahy (at right) concluded his remarks by stating that he intended "to seek and hear the views of any and all parties and to include all interested staff and Senators," while asserting that "[t]his will continue to be an open and deliberative process, with the goal of favorable Senate action as early as the floor schedule permits." Senator Hatch closed the discussion by noting that while "some would like to play political football with this bill to pursue other agenda items," the Senate bill was "far too important and should not fall prey to such partisan tactics from either side."
For additional information on this topic, please see:
- "Enjoined New Rules and Patent Reform Finally Appearing on Biotech Industry's Radar," December 20, 2007
- "Chinese IP Judge Discusses Implications of U.S. Patent Reform Bill and Two Congressmen Heed Warning," December 17, 2007
- "IPO President Seeks Deletion of Patent Reform Provision," December 12, 2007
- "Senate May Act on Patent 'Reform' Bill in the New Year," December 2, 2007
- "The Wall Street Journal Gets It Half Right," November 5, 2007
- "BIO CEO Provides Briefing on Follow-On Biologics and Patent Reform," September 18, 2007
- "Patent 'Reform' Bill Passes House of Representatives," September 9, 2007
- "San Francisco Chronicle Opines on Patent Reform," August 6, 2007
- "Patent Reform Bill to Be Delayed?" June 12, 2007
- "Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on Patent Reform," June 10, 2007
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