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US law change bid gains strong backing
Vermont’s Democrat Senator, Patrick Leahy, introduced his Patent Reform Bill into both US Houses on 18 April. Aiming to clear up outdated areas of current legislation, the Bill proposes a switch to first-to-file, plus limitations on the sums of infringement damages and new methods of challenging patents after they have been granted.
Mr Leahy argued that existing laws were ‘crafted for an earlier time, when smokestacks rather than microchips were the emblems of industry. [They] have served well, but need some refinements.’
He added: ‘The United States stands alone among nations that grant patents in giving priority for a patent to the first inventor, as opposed to the first to file a patent application for a claimed invention. The result is a lack of international consistency, and a complex and costly system in the United States to determine inventors' rights.’
Leahy’s base of support has sealed the political divide and united the Houses, with Republicans Lamar Smith (Rep – Texas) and Orrin Hatch (Sen – Utah) throwing their weight behind the bill. Industry insiders have also welcomed the move. Joel Poppen, deputy general counsel for Micron Technology, which holds 18,000 patents, said: ‘We've seen new business models that have been created, and indeed are flourishing, around patents, including doing things like buying patents out of bankruptcy, or putting engineers into a room and trying to tailor patents to cover products. What these essentially professional patent companies do is exploit loopholes in the patent system.’
However, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) warned in a statement that the proposed changes ‘may weaken the patent system in ways that could be damaging to many important and innovative sectors of the US economy.’
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