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Friday, April 20, 2007

Patent reform: Old wine in a new bottle?

Apr 20 2007 1:19PM | Permalink |Comments (3) |


On April 18 the Patent Reform Act of 2007 was introduced in the House and Senate. The bill is similar to bipartisan legislation introduced last year, and updates current patent laws to provide reform for patent seekers and patent holders. If you want more details, there is quite a bit of information and insight into the bill at Dennis Crouch’s website, Patently O.

Among many reforms, the bill would reportedly create a pure “first-to-file” system to bring needed clarity and certainty to the U.S. patent system. The bill also hopes to create a more streamlined and effective way of challenging the validity and enforceability of patents. The bill has received industry support from several heavyweights.

Is this another “old wine in new bottles” situation, as one reader called it? Are we an over-patented society? Or, as one supporter said, these proposed changes will strengthen and restore balance to the patent system legislative action that has been urgently needed for years. What’s your take?


Related entries in: Business Centers | Business Strategy | EDN | 


Reader Comments



at 4/21/2007 5:02:37 AM, Patent said:
Of --the bill would reportedly create a pure “first-to-file” system to bring needed clarity and certainty to the U.S. patent system--, the IMPACT of first-to-file is trivial, as fewer than a fraction of a percent of patents are involved in interferences to determine who was "first to invent."



at 4/27/2007 1:43:57 PM, PatentCritic said:
This makes a bad situation worse. If this law passes, we will have ambitious teenagers imagining almost anything under the sun, file a patent and claim it if it were ever made into a product by anybody else, because of the first-to-file decree. It will make it easier for large corps to file spurious bulk patents to protect themselves. It will also make open source movement more difficult.
In fact , just the opposite is needed. We need to strengthen existing patenting process, make sure prior art has been thoroughly investigated , and patent infringement scope limited to a precise "signature" implementation by the accused party. SCO's patents and Verizon's patents are exactly the ones that threaten new developments and should be rightfully "signatured" in their scope.



at 10/10/2009 8:05:57 PM, Settor71 said:
Community Schools: Partnerships for Excellence. ,

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