Posts Tagged: "lobbying"

GROSSMAN: “A report released by the Global Intellectual Property Center found that IP-intensive industries employ 55.7 million Americans across dozens of sectors of the economy. In every state of this nation, millions of jobs hinge on the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights and supply wages 30% higher than non IP jobs. I think that increasingly reports such as these, will demonstrate, with hard facts and figures, to public policymakers the importance of intellectual property rights in promoting creativity and innovation in the U.S. economy, and thereby counter the popular and trendy notion that consumers should get everything they want instantaneously and for free.”

GROSSMAN: “I think that we will see some form of patent litigation reform passed by the Senate and then ultimately by Congress. Currently, there are very few things on which the Republicans and the Democrats can come together. However, patents and other types of intellectual property seem to be one area in which joint action is possible. I think that ultimately both parties are going to want to do something that shows that they can work together and get something important accomplished. Enacting the appropriate type of patent litigation reform would foster innovation and create jobs and thereby demonstrate to the American people that they still have a functioning Congress. The House has already passed a bill, and the President urged Congress to pass a bill in his State of the Union address. I think the momentum is there.”

The PTO, the House and Senate Judiciary Committee staffs, and some segments of the patent community, mainly those that were supporters of the AIA, had drafted a a proposed technical corrections bill. Obviously, if a proposed change is purely technical in nature, there shouldn’t be a lot of trouble passing it, but what is technical and what is not technical can be a rather subjective test. There has been some talk about efforts to change the AIA in ways that would have substantive effect on the law . And it’s those issues that have garnered some attention in recent months. There was some discussion about changing the estoppel standard for the post grant review provisions of the AIA, and there have been some proposals regarding a proposed expansion of prior user rights being kicked around as well. If those are on the table or appear in a technical corrections package, “technical” in quotes, I think it would be difficult to pass such a measure this calendar year. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean that those who support those changes won’t continue to press for them and try to see them enacted, if not this year maybe next year.

Cooney is a prominent behind the scenes player in Washington, DC. He is a partner in the American Continental Group, a D.C. based consulting and lobbying firm that boasts one of the most prominent IP practice groups in town. Cooney and the American Continental Group were intimately involved in working behind the scenes on the America Invents Act (AIA), as well as the predecessor legislation that was circulating through Congress for years before it ultimately passed. With the anniversary of the passage this month I asked Manus if he would go on the record to talk about his experiences, legislation and lobbying in general, as well as what is on the horizon for the future.