Several months ago, I declared that new patent legislation is effectively blocked within Congress. [Link] Today, Congressional Republicans asked Speaker Pelosi to slow down as well. [Letter]. As it turns out, legislative reform is, for the most part, a sideshow as the executive and judicial branches are still running with the ball.
[Of course, the legislation will begin to move again if the opposition rests or the forces of change grow stronger]
Word has it that the Fair[?]ness people will be trying to rush a vote through the full House on Sept. 7, 2007.
Long live Patent Deform.
Supporters may pick up their campaign finance contribution envelopes in stall #3. Make sure to have your palms up.
The question is whether the Coalition for Patent “Fair”[ee?]ness needs to amend its name in view of recent events:
Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), and Representatives Howard Berman (D-CA) and Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced “The Patent Reform Act of 2007” (S. 1145 and H.R. 1908) that would provide significant needed reforms. 8 —>
8. Cosponsors include Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), ***Larry Craig (R-ID)***, Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI); and Representatives Rick Boucher (D-VA), Chris Cannon (R-UT), Howard Coble (R-NC), John Conyers (D-MI), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), Zoe Lofgren (DCA),
and Adam Schiff (D-CA).
It’s good to know that the in-stall-ed leaders of America are picking up the pieces. No wonder the system is being flushed down the tubes.
“Patent reform is not dead, it just smells funny.”
(Apologies to Frank Zappa)
Now lets get Congress to do something useful and kill the new rules at the USPTO.
http://www.IP.org said: PATENT REFORM LEGISLATION IS NOT DEAD — Despite a pronouncement yesterday by the most widely read patent law blogger, Dennis Crouch, who has an excellent record for accuracy, that “Congressional patent reform is dead,” lobbying on patent reform in Washington is continuing at a torrid pace. Crouch posted yesterday’s letter by the top two Republicans in the House of Representatives to Speaker Nancy Pelosi asking that the bill not be rushed to the floor of the House. However, the House and Senate patent reform bills are very much alive. IPO Daily News has the impression that a majority in the patent community outside Washington may believe patent reform is dead, but a majority of lobbyists in Washington, who talk to members of Congress every day for and against the legislation, are convinced that some form of it will pass this year or next. Daily News will increase its coverage of patent reform legislation when Congress returns next week.
IPO is making way too rosy projections for patent reform passing. The reason is that they do not know anywhere near as much as the Professional Inventors Alliance knows about the dark cloud gathering over the Patent Deform issue. While the bill is not dead it is gasping for breath, and as events unfold it is going to be in much worse shape. In the week before August recess the Coalition for Patent fairness & PIRACY thought they were riding high. Today they are struggling to stay in the saddle 🙂
Ronald J. Riley,
President – http://www.PIAUSA.org – RJR at PIAUSA.org
Executive Director – http://www.InventorEd.org – RJR at InvEd.org
Washington, DC
Direct (202) 318-1595 – 9 am to 9 pm EST.
Finally somebody came to their senses! And please don’t let the PTO make rules, as the recent continuing application rules are a needless complication to fix a non-existent problem. Let the judges fix the system-at least due process applies to that system.
“Long Live Adminstrative Patent Reform”
Let’s hope NOT! Kill ’em both! Currently USPTO management is obviously not capable enough to provide reasonable administrative patent reform.
This bill is not completely dead yet, but we have dealt it a number of serious blows and additional surprises will become apparent shortly. Members of the Coalition for Patent fairness & Piracy are getting desperate. We hear that their legislator allies are canvassing their colleagues and begging for compromises while the Piracy Coalition is in their incredible arrogance continuing to demand complete socialization of other’s intellectual property and doing their best to turn inventing into a kings sport.
We have reports that representatives of the Coalition for Patent fairness & Piracy are running around telling everyone that labor support of inventors is “soft”. The truth of the matter is that a warm relationship has been blossoming between labor and the independent inventor community over a number of years and that this relationship goes far beyond patent reform.
Another truth is that labor leaders are pretty sharp people who do understand the issues and they take stands based on what is in their members’ interests. It is a fact that the Piracy Coalition is not giving labor the credit they deserve and that the Piracy Coalition’s bald face lies on the Hill about labor will no doubt not sit very well in some circles.
One thing is sure, and that is that inventors are looking forward to working with labor to stem the loss of jobs and even more important to create new jobs.
Inventors have community ties and when they prosper their communities also prosper through the creation of jobs and tax base. When a transnational patent pirate gets away with stealing an inventor’s work those companies promptly ship the invention and the economic benefits to some slave wage country.
I will continue to work diligently to promote cooperation between inventors and labor. The inventor community has every intention of working with organized labor to preserve America’s economic interests. We have no doubt that crooked transnational patent pirates will continue to abuse the peoples of developing and developed countries for their and only their own short term gain.
It is truly unfortunate that many of the worst corporate players were spawned in America. Today they owe allegiance to no country. We must reign in bad corporate players for the good of all peoples of the world. Based on the many losses of Piracy Coalition members a strong patent system in an important part of forcing these companies to become responsible corporate citizens.
Ronald J. Riley,
President – http://www.PIAUSA.org – RJR at PIAUSA.org
Washington, DC
Direct (202) 318-1595 – 9 am to 9 pm EST.
Reform is not dead. It is just too good a fund raiser for the hill on both sides. But, i would expect the battle to draw out for years, until the hill has milked it for all it can.
Are you perhaps referring to the damages law on your home planet? Because here on Earth we have never measured royalties in the way the bills propose.
Dream on, Dennis. In any event, with regard to damages, any anyone who knows anything about patent damages law [apparantly no one in Congress or Chief Judge Michel, to my surprise], the patent reform act changes nothing — it simply enacts the present state of damages law into the statute.
Dennis, this letter is being written by Republican *House* leaders who (a) have their Pharma donors screaming murder, and (b) have no power. Unlike the Senate, the House is a monarchy ruled from the Speaker’s chair (which a few Chairman having substantial fiefs). The fact that Pharma is screaming — at the Republicans who they donate to — is only going to motivate the Democrats to push this harder.
No, this should read: Long live **Judicial** Patent reform. That is:
————–
eBay v. MercExchange
Medimmune v. Genentech
KSR v. Teleflex
Microsoft v. AT&T
In re Seagate Technology
————–
Good enough for you?
Ayy.
The funny part is that there are not 10 senators who have a clue what the patent system is like.
It’s all so humanly foolish.
Stand tall, stand together, stand for redwhiteblue America.
Let us remember American principles, and those who sacrificed…
Especially our collective intellectual strength.
Kill Bill
kill Bill II
Kill Bill forever. We’d help our collective selves
if we make the U.S. patent system stronger, much stronger
After all, this is America, built on strength …
But, but, Dennis – this thing sailed through committee in both the Senate and the House! How can it be dead? (well, I recall that being the gist of some rather strident remarks here a month or so ago)
Comments are closed.