Patent Baristas

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) is Chairwoman of the Senate Small Business Committee.  Sen. Landrieu has introduced The Small Business Patent Data Collection Act of 2010 after concerns about how the Senate patent reform bill will impact small businesses.  Small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all employers, employing 1/2 of the U.S. labor force.
The bill directs [...]

Here comes the Patent Reform Act of 2010 in the form of an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute to S. 515 (“Amendment to S. 515”).  I know, you’ve heard all this before with the Patent Reform Act of 2009, the Patent Reform Act of 2008, the Patent Reform Act of 2007, the Patent [...]

Admittedly, patent reform is not a sexy topic. Those passionate about it are lab geeks, computer nerds, inventors, academics, attorneys and IP bloggers – not exactly the glitterati. But if it passes the hurdle of a full Senate vote, it will hurt – entrepreneurs, inventors and the economy.
Perhaps this lack of charisma is [...]

The Innovation Alliance announced the release of a new study that details what it says is the negative impact on the U.S. economy that would result from enactment of currently considered patent legislation.
The new study: “Problems to be Expected from Expanded Administrative Challenges to U.S. Patents,” is authored by Scott Shane, Ph.D., Professor of Economics [...]

The saga of the PTO’s rulemaking authority continued on March 20, 2009 when the Federal Circuit issued its 55 page decision in Tafas v. Doll holding that aside from the rule limiting continuations, the other rule changes were procedural in nature and the PTO does have the rule-making authority to implement the rules limiting the [...]

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the increase in direct spending under Patent Reform Act of 2009 (S.515) would total $3 million over the 2010-2019 period.
The report was ordered by the Senate Judiciary Committee:
SUMMARY
Under current law, PTO is authorized to collect a variety of fees for the services it performs. The fee rates [...]

“Eliminate the Patent Restrictions Standing in Your Company’s Way”
The Innovation Alliance, a coalition of companies with the stated goal to enhance America’s innovation environment by improving the quality of patents and protecting the integrity of the U.S. patent system, is worried that lawyers (the bad ones, not us) will be lining up to offer just [...]

While not invited to the party in person, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) provided its written testimony on patent reform to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on the Judiciary hearing on H.R. 1260, the “Patent Reform Act of 2009.”
The breakdown for the biotechnology industry looks like this: more than 7.5 million people employed; [...]