Proposed Bill to Reform US Patent Act

Following two years of hearings and debate, US Senators Orrin Hatch and Patrick Leahy, Co-Chairs of the US Senate's Intellectual Property Subcommittee, have introduced the Patent Reform Act of 2006 (Patent Bill). The Patent Bill proposes that the current method of granting US patents, the "first to invent" standard, which has been criticized as complicated to prove, be changed to a "first to file" method, already in use by most other countries. The Patent Bill establishes a "post-grant opposition" system that would allow challenges to the validity of a patent to be heard before a Patent Trial and Appeal Board of administrative judges. A person filing a "petition for cancellation" of a patent would have 12 months from the issue or reissue date of the patent to do so, and longer if the petitioner "establishes a substantial reason to believe that the continued existence of the challenged claim causes or is likely to cause the petitioner significant economic harm." The Patent Bill also limits damages to be awarded in successful infringement suits. Royalties owed by infringers would be calculated on "the economic value [of] … the novel and nonobvious features of the invention" rather than on "the economic value attributable to other features, improvements added by the infringer, and the business risks the infringer undertook in commercialization". According to a press release posted on Senator Hatch's web site, the aim of the Patent Bill is to increase patent quality, increase international harmonization and decrease unwarranted or abusive patent litigation. Many provisions of the Bill are similar to those of the controversial Patent Reform Act of 2005, submitted last year in the House of Representatives. For a related news story, see: http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6102493.html For Senator Hatch's web site, visit: http://makeashorterlink.com/?Q5C72209D For the Patent Bill, visit the web site of the US Library of Congress at: http://thomas.loc.gov/), enter "S3818", and you will be directed to the full text. Summary by: Clare McCurley