Friday, September 30, 2011

Patent Bill Update

Well, the patent reform bill is now law, but the provisions do not take effect until 2013. The bill provides broad outlines for the new provisions, but the USPTO will have to issue new rules based on the statute. The federal courts will inevitably end up having to interpret these new rules, so it will be quite some time (e.g., years) before all of the implications of the law become clear. Stay tuned...

Monday, September 12, 2011

Patent Bill Sent to Obama

Well, the senate passed the patent reform act and sent it to Obama for signature. Obama has previously stated that he will sign the bill, so I guess it's a done deal.

This is clearly set up to benefit large corporations. Large corporations clearly have not been the drivers of the U.S.'s world leadership in innovation. R.I.P innovation leadership. We will be inevitably dragged down to the standards of the rest of the world.

Friday, September 09, 2011

Patent Changes Update

Well, it looks like the patent law overhaul that I mentioned in my previous post is closer to reality and almost assured of being signed into law.

While some of the provisions seems reasonable, the "biggie," which is the change to a first-to-file system from a first-to-invent system, will be extremely destructive to innovation, especially among independent inventors. This provision clearly and overwhelmingly favors the huge corporations that forced this legislation on us.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania that showed that when Canada changed its patent system in a simlar manner in 1989, filings by independent inventors dropped and did not recover.

Think about it... the rest of the world uses the first-to-file system, but virtually all of the significant technology development in the world occurs in the U.S., with its first-to-invent system. Has anyone in Washington ever heard of the sage advice: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it?" (Of course not; silly me!)

Unfortunately, it looks like this is a done deal, according to what I have read.