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Big Business speaks out on patent reform

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Legal representatives from three of America’s biggest blue-chips met in Washington at the weekend to discuss issues surrounding the soon-to-be updated US patent laws.
Lawyers from Microsoft Corp, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) joined a seminar hosted by the Progress and Freedom Foundation – a market-oriented think tank that studies the implications of public policy in the digital society.

‘We are seeing a lot of rhetoric around patent reform legislation,’ said Andy Culbert, Microsoft’s associate general counsel. ‘I would caution people to take that rhetoric with a degree of salt.’

Congress’s efforts to modernise US patent laws have met with widespread contention. High-tech companies believe that the current system is not moving fast enough or in line with the information technology sector while the pharmaceutical sector has taken a more conservative approach. Philip Johnson, chief patent counsel at Johnson & Johnson said at the seminar that patent laws should ensure ‘the maximum incentive conferred to whomever comes up with something new from which we benefit.’ He was also keen to attack the Bill’s current wording, saying: ‘It makes it harder to get a patent, it makes it harder to keep a patent, and it makes harder to get compensation if someone infringes on your patent.’

The new bill, currently working its way though Congress, contains several controversial clauses, including plans for a two-stage system for challenging patents after they have been granted, and wooly guidelines for how judges should set damages against infringers.

On a more welcome note, though, the Bill also calls for more resources for the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to facilitate closer inspection of 160,000 new applications per year and eradicate bad patents.