Many of the proposed changes soon erupted into controversy among numerous interested parties. Under current law, the US operates under a “first-to-invent” system, where a patent is rightfully owned by the first individual or consortium to invent the patent rather than the first party to file with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The proposed change to a “first-to-file” system was opposed on grounds that inventors would file quick and sloppy patent applications without first finalizing their inventions and that “first-to-file” would disadvantage small and new firms who lack internal patent procedures and who cannot afford the in-house patent lawyers and experts who are ubiquitous among larger and more-established businesses. Many small business groups protested that they were not represented in the negotiations leading up to the bill’s writing.
Many other opponents protested that the United States was attempting to change their Patent Laws in order to more closely mirror those enforced in the European Union. They claim that the US has been a leader in technological and innovative advancement vis-à-vis the EU primarily due to US patent protections. They fear that the US will lose this innovative edge if the patent laws are changed significantly.
Together, challengers to the Patent Reform Acts believe that the acts will give more protections to potential patent violators and manipulators of the patent system than it will protect legitimate patent-holders. Another sticking point is that while the Patent Reform Acts attempt to shorten the waiting period from filing to receiving a patent, the acts actually crate more post-patent reviews and examinations. Opponents fear this will create ambiguity about the legitimacy of patents and lead to increased and expensive litigation and stifle the economic exploitation of the new inventions.
Failing to pass the Patent Reform Act of 2005, the act was reintroduced in the 110th Congress in 2007. By this time, the Democrats had taken control of the Senate where in 2005 the Republicans controlled both chambers. While there is broad bipartisan support and opposition to the measures, the fact of a divided Congress threw additional challenges into the process. One of the largest groups opposed to Patent Reform has been organized labor unions, a powerful force in politics especially in Democrat constituencies.
After both the 2005 and 2007 acts failed to make it to a vote in either house, supporters of the Patent Reform Acts reintroduced the Patent Reform Act of 2009. By this time, the sponsors of the bill had attempted to strip out many of the controversial parts and water down the bill in order to gain more supporters. However, this caused a backlash among the original supporters of the Reform Acts who began to oppose the current Act as ineffectual.
In 2011 both chambers of Congress introduced a Patent Reform Act as the renamed America Invents Act. The passage of this act is very uncertain and history indicates that there may be long odds against enactment. Some supporters of patent reform have begun talking about breaking up the act into smaller pieces of legislation which can more easily be debated and passed if the comprehensive Act once again stagnates.
No comments:
Post a Comment