Pending patent legislation: 

by Dennis Crouch

13 thoughts on “Pending patent legislation: 

  1. 3

    With 2022 now just around the corner, and given that the off-the-eligibility-rails CAFC continues to trash ever-more fields of innovation, where’s the bill that America most needs?:

    The Innovation Restoration Act (IRA)

    1. 3.1

      With 2022 now just around the corner,… where’s the bill that America most needs?

      And, where are the senate-confirmed heads of the USPTO and FDA? Heck, where are the named nominees? This is really getting embarrassing.

      You would think that when the single biggest problem facing America is a pandemic, that there would be some urgency in getting a confirmed FDA director in place. The administration really needs to do better than this.

      1. 3.1.1

        “And, where are the senate-confirmed heads of the USPTO and FDA? Heck, where are the named nominees?”

        Yes; those as well.

        While it’s good to have a someone with morals and respect for our nation’s institutions back as president, Biden has so far been a disappointment in a number of critically-important areas.

        1. 3.1.1.1

          Somehow the notion of a career politician (especially THIS career politician) as having “morals and respect for our nations institutions” (do you mean like the institution of border security?) is simply WAY out of place.

          Note that I am not saying the predecessor was any type of paragon, but your view just does not reach.

        2. 3.1.1.2

          While it’s good to have a someone with morals and respect for our nation’s institutions back as president, Biden has so far been a disappointment in a number of critically-important areas.

          Agreed. He is less appalling than his immediate predecessor, but still well short of the mark. Somewhat off topic, meanwhile, I see that—to my great surprise—Donald Trump is on the ballot (so to speak) in 2022.

          link to npr.org

      2. 3.1.2

        It also also disappointing to see this administration continue the “Performing the duties of…” game.

        1. 3.1.2.1

          Exactly. This is no way to run a great nation. If we keep running this country in the same way that banana republics are run, it will not be long before we descend to banana republic level. The administration and the senate both need to get their acts together.

          Meanwhile, Pro Say is quite right to be unsatisfied with the penny ante nonsense listed above. These are not the legislative reforms that anyone purports to need. The House needs to get its act together as well and start moving the real reforms that are needed.

        2. 3.1.2.2

          The FDA link below expresses a hard time limit. Does not the appointments clause also carry a hard time limit for any such designated “acting as”**

          ** yes, this is a trick question, as the Office shenanigans of not even having the current “leader” take the Acting title (and only use the ‘performing the duties of’) sidesteps the controls meant to avoid the delays we have.

          Games within games.

          Talk about morals and respect for institutions.

          Not.

        1. 3.1.3.1

          Several interesting points from the WaPo article:

          1) His confirmation process faced resistance from lawmakers like Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who criticized the longtime Duke University researcher’s ties to pharmaceutical companies that helped fund his work and paid him significant consulting fees.

          Having such “connections” should throw up a red flag.

          2) Califf, who has advised Google and its spinoff, Verily Life Sciences, since leaving the Obama administration,

          Big Pharma AND Big Tech?
          Big red flags

          3) He was among the experts who pressed the Biden administration to take more action on the global vaccine response this summer, warning the long-lasting effects of coronavirus is likely to plague the U.S. health system for years to come.

          Uncertain, but was this the “back India and South Africa” position?

  2. 2

    A useful list of pending patent litigation.
    Could someone please explain what is the actual extent of more than 20 patents being asserted on the same drug that is being addressed in HR 2883? I.e., is this really going to have a significant impact on said “Affordable Prescriptions”?
    S.2891 – “Restoring the America Invents Act.” [“Substantial changes to the IPR system to favor the patent challenger.”] has been discussed recently on other blogs. At least one part of it – removing PTAB Fintiv-type discretionary IPR denials based on unrealistic projected trial dates – seems to have political influencer support breadth. Even though it could be easily fixed by the new PTO Director herself with no rule or statutory changes.

    1. 2.1

      [I]s… HR 2883… really going to have a significant impact on said “Affordable Prescriptions”?

      No. Any time you find yourself trying to move the needle on drug prices by fiddling with patent law, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. The U.S. patent law is basically the same as the Canadian patent law, or the British patent law, etc., which should tell you that the real driver of the cost difference between ourselves and the Canadians or the British is not patent law.

      The salient differences are (1) FDA law and (2) tax law (although not necessarily in that order). Trying to solve this problem by reforming patent law is like the proverbial drunk looking for his keys under the lamppost because that is where the light is better.

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