IP Owners Push For Patent Bill Vote
Proponents of proposed changes to the U.S. patent system are getting antsy as the increasingly packed House and Senate calendars dash their hopes for swift action on legislation this year. At its recent meeting, the Intellectual Property Owners Association board of directors adopted a resolution urging the Senate to bring a bill sponsored by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy to a vote soon. The bill passed his committee in April and staffers for Leahy and Majority Leader Harry Reid have begun discussing how and when to move the measure to the floor. "We are still taking a look at this complicated issue and how it fits into the broader floor schedule," a spokeswoman for Reid said Friday. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor and other judicial appointments will consume much of Leahy's time in the weeks ahead.
IPO's board approved a number of other resolutions for 2009, including:
• Support for legislation to repeal the qui tam cause of action of Section 292(b) of the patent statute for false marking of products.
• Support for U.S. Customs and Border Protection statutory and regulatory authority over design patents by creating a registry similar to what currently exists for goods protected by trademarks or copyrights.
• Opposition to legislation that does not respect the essentially territorial nature of patent rights by providing that it shall not be an act of infringement in the United States to use, offer to sell, or sell within the United States, or import any patented invention based on first sale abroad of the patented invention by or under authority of the owner or licensee of an applicable U.S. patent or corresponding foreign patent.
Read more IPO resolutions here.
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus