Posts Tagged: "Congress"

This week in Washington IP news, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is hosting events on blockchain and drafting provisional patent applications, while the Brookings Institution is hosting an event on the regulation of cryptocurrency markets. Also in the cyber world, three authors will make their case for a more holistic and aggressive U.S. approach to cyberspace strategy at The Heritage Foundation.

The International Center for Law and Economics (ICLE) released a white paper on Thursday arguing that Section 512 of Title 17 of the Copyright Act has been a failure, and it should be reevaluated and overhauled. Congress passed Section 512 as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and authors Kristian Stout and Geoffrey Manne argue the federal courts have written out key provisions in the law. Stout and Manne write that Section 512 has succeeded in allowing online service providers (OSPs) such as social media companies to grow and thrive by providing a safe harbor provision as long as they take down infringement promptly. However, the authors argue that the law has failed to provide proper incentives and systems to prevent digital piracy

Patent eligibility law in the United States is in a state of disarray that has led to inconsistent case decisions, deep uncertainty in the innovative, investment and legal communities, and unpredictable outcomes in patent prosecution and litigation. These facts have been extensively documented in multiple sources, including: the statements of all 12 active judges of the nation’s only patent court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (confirmed prior to October 2021); the findings and reports of the Executive branch across all recent Administrations; the bi-partisan conclusions of Congressional committees; a robust body of academic studies; and at least forty separate witness statements at the 2019 hearings on this issue before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on IP, including statements from advocates that oppose Section 101 reforms.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced today that it is seeking comment from the public on “proposed initiatives directed at bolstering the robustness and reliability of patents to incentivize and protect new and nonobvious inventions while facilitating the broader dissemination of public knowledge to promote innovation and competition.” During IPWatchdog’s LIVE event in Dallas, Texas, in September, USPTO Texas Regional Office Director Hope Shimabuku explained that issuing “robust and reliable patents”—which seems to have replaced the oft-maligned term, “patent quality,”—is a key focus for USPTO Director Kathi Vidal. The request for comment (RFC) tackles this problem from a number of angles, from fee-setting to terminal disclaimer and continuation practices, to improving prior art searches. The RFC stems in part from a July letter sent by the USPTO to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) outlining the USPTO’s planned initiatives to help combat perceived links between patents and drug pricing problems.

This week in Washington IP news, both houses of Congress are silent as they enter scheduled work periods but the Hudson Institute and the American Enterprise Institute host conversations with Chris Miller, the author of Chip Wars: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology. Another Hudson Institute event with Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Noah Phillips explores what the proper role is for the United States’ top antitrust enforcement agency in regulating the tech sector, while the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office hosts a presentation exploring alternative dispute resolution proceedings available at the WIPO Center for resolving disputes over standard essential patents.

On Wednesday night, during a launch event for the Council for Innovation Promotion (C4IP), Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) announced that he has come on as a co-sponsor of the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2022. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) introduced the first draft of his bill in August, but had no co-sponsors at the time, which caused some to question the chances of the bill passing anytime soon. But tonight, Coons said he is happy to be a co-sponsor and both Coons and Tillis seemed optimistic about the prospects for intellectual property legislation in the next congress—no matter which of them ends up as Chair.

On September 23, the office of the U.S. Solicitor General filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court on the issues at play in Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic International, Inc., a trademark case in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed a $90 million damages award for trademark infringement based on infringement occurring almost entirely outside of the United States. The Solicitor General’s brief asks the nation’s highest court to grant cert on Abitron Austria’s appeal in order to properly limit the application of the Lanham Act so that damages are only awarded when the alleged infringement has a likelihood of causing confusion among U.S. consumers.

This week in Washington IP news, the Senate Aviation Safety Subcommittee takes a look at incorporating unmanned aerial systems more fully into the U.S. national airspace, while the full Senate Commerce Committee explores how to maintain U.S. leadership in emerging compute technologies. Over in the House of Representatives, the House Science Committee focuses on the risks that must be managed as artificial intelligence (AI) systems become more highly developed. Elsewhere, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office hosts the latest public meeting of the Patent Public Advisory Committee, and the American Enterprise Institute hosts a half-day event on Tuesday featuring multiple expert panels discussing topics at the intersection of technology and government.

In June of this year, United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Kathi Vidal replied to a late April request by Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI) for answers to a number of questions surrounding abuse of the inter partes review (IPR) system, explaining that she was working on the problem. Now, Vidal has sent a follow-up letter providing more detail on two of the questions raised in the letter, specifically with respect to the USTPO’s authority to issue sanctions for bad faith petitions. In addition to providing statistics on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s use of sanctions since the America Invents Act (AIA) was passed, Vidal also said she plans to seek stakeholder input to explore further options for addressing misconduct.

This morning, the full U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary convened an executive business meeting during which the committee advanced S. 673, the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act (JCPA). Though the bill was reported favorably with an amendment drawing support from the Republican members of the committee, others on the Senate Judiciary raised concerns that could presage further debate after it hits the floor of the Senate. The JCPA was first introduced into both houses of Congress last March, with Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Kennedy (R-LA) sponsoring the Senate version and Representatives David Cicilline (D-RI) and Ken Buck (R-NY) sponsoring the version introduced into the House of Representatives.

This week in Washington IP news, the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a vote on the Journalism Competition and Preservation Act, which has faced some stiff opposition in recent weeks, while the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence takes a look at operations at the National Counterintelligence and Security Center designed to protect American innovation from being stolen by malicious actors. Over in the House of Representatives, the Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process explores potential avenues for protecting the right to repair in the digital age. Elsewhere, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) hosts its second AI/ET Partnership Series meeting at its Silicon Valley regional office, and the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation focuses on the EU’s Digital Markets Act and its possible negative impacts on innovation.

Last year, there was a great amount of confidence among those in intellectual property circles that the U.S. Supreme Court might finally provide some much-needed clarity to Section 101 subject matter patentability after a petition for writ of certiorari was filed in American Axle v. Neapco Holdings. On the second day of IPWatchdog LIVE 2022, panelists at the breakout session titled “Where Do We Go From Here on Patent Eligibility After American Axle” discussed what opportunities were left for fixing patent eligibility law after the Supreme Court denied cert in that case.

This week in Washington IP news, the House Agriculture Committee explores the rural broadband provisions of the Farm Act as Congress gets ready to reauthorize those programs in 2023, while the House Subcommittee on Underserved, Agricultural and Rural Business Development takes a look at how technical protection measures have undermined consumers’ right to repair vehicles and devices. Over in the Senate, the Armed Services Committee holds a nomination hearing to debate President Biden’s nominee for Chief of Space Operations for the Department of Defense, while the Senate Agriculture Committee reviews a proposed bill that would grant jurisdiction to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to regulate the spot digital asset market. Elsewhere, both the Brookings Institution and the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation explore how democratic societies should approach technological adoption to ward off authoritarian regimes, while the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office holds a stakeholder meeting on business method patents.