Sessions Asks For Patent Report
Senate Judiciary ranking member Jeff Sessions has requested that Case Western Reserve University innovation expert Scott Shane analyze the potential impact of a pending bill's approach to administratively challenging a patent's validity after it is granted. The proposed changes to the Patent and Trademark Office's post-grant review process are included in a bill sponsored by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, which passed his committee 15-4 in April. Staffers for Leahy and Sessions have been meeting with stakeholders about the issue in recent weeks even as the panel focuses on the forthcoming confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor.
As amended, the measure would adopt House-passed text from 2007 that lengthens the timeline for challenging a granted patent and strips out a "public use or sale" provision that Leahy added as a basis for challenging a patent. Shane's research earlier this Congress on apportionment of damages concluded that adopting House language could lead to job loss and decreased R&D investment. Leahy's panel ultimately watered down the damages text so the bill could advance. Shane's report was commissioned by the Manufacturing Alliance on Patent Policy, a group backed by Corning, Monsanto, DuPont and others. His latest research will be ready for Sessions within two weeks, Tech Daily Dose has learned.
Click here to read recent CongressDaily coverage of the emerging conflict over post-grant review language (subscription required).
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