Posted On: March 22, 2010
USPTO Update: More on Patent Reform
The latest efforts in patent law reform have yielded results in the form of tentative legislation in the Senate.
Until now, the most recent patent law revison was a bill in the House of Representatives in 2007, which ultimately stalled because opposing industry leaders could not agree on damages to be paid in the case of infringement suits. The current proposed legislation eliminates this conflict. Instead of determining an amount for fees or allowable damages in lawsuits, the committee plans to empower the Patent Office with that task. In this manner, the Patent Office will act as a "gatekeeper," with the power to adjust fees and lawsuit damage amounts depending on the importance of the subject matter. For example, if a drug company has developed a new treatment that is highly important, the patent judge may allow that company to collect more damages in an infringement suit.
Hopefully these new ideas will pass both the Senate and the House and become law. It seems reasonable that the Patent Office is in the best position to determine fees and damages. Also, judges allowing more damages for more important inventions will encourage innovation in those areas.
For more information regarding patents, contact a patent attorney to set up a consultation.
