Posts Tagged: "116th Congress"

Late Monday evening, Congress passed a massive omnibus budget bill to avert a federal government shutdown and provide critical COVID-19 relief.  But that is not all – much to the surprise of the intellectual property world, the last-minute bill included several pieces of legislation, previously thought to be sidetracked in light of the current lame duck administration, that will alter the landscape of trademark, copyright and patent law as we know it. The changes include a Trademark Modernization Act that restores the rebuttable presumption of irreparable harm when a Lanham Act violation has been proven, allowing brand owners to more easily obtain injunctions, and the creation of a copyright small claims tribunal within the Copyright Office.

This week in our nation’s capital, the Senate Banking Committee holds a hearing on introducing decentralized ledger technologies into government payment systems while the Senate Labor Subcommittee looks at Operation Warp Speed’s progress on developing a COVID-19 vaccine. Over in the House of Representatives, the House Rules Committee will look at amendments to the INVEST in America Act, a major transportation infrastructure bill which earmarks federal funding for mobility innovation programs. Elsewhere, New America looks at the impact that the year 2020 will have on the world of big tech while the Center for Strategic & International Studies discusses Main Street innovation in the defense sector with the company president of General Atomics, maker of the MQ-9 Reaper.

Draft legislation has emerged that ostensibly would boost rapid innovation to combat the coronavirus. Bottom line: The bill is a mixed bag with a lot of questions… The Facilitating Innovation to Fight Coronavirus Act appears to be an attempt to bring any and all viable medical inventions to bear, as quickly as possible, in our fight to defeat COVID-19, which is absolutely to be commended. Despite attempts to mitigate the harm that outright eminent domain on patent rights (vigorously advocated by some) would certainly cause, the legislation needs more work.

This week in our nation’s capital, the House of Representatives hosts a number of committee hearings related to technology and innovation. Various hearings will explore online sales tax impacts on small businesses, unsafe counterfeit products bought by American consumers, uses of blockchain technology among small businesses, issues with veteran electronic health record systems, U.S. Cyber Command’s 2021 budget and the role of advanced nuclear reactors in creating a cleaner economy. Over in the Senate, a pair of hearings on Wednesday will discuss issues with securing the 5G supply chain and data surveillance concerns caused by partnerships between major tech firms and China. Elsewhere in D.C., the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and the Aspen Institute host a joint event focused on reducing sources of carbon from industrial processes.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: a series of bills introduced into Congress aim to improve prospects for minority inventors, eliminate compulsory copyright licenses in broadcast TV and reduce patent challenges against generic drugmakers; the Federal Circuit decides that there is no functionality in the aesthetic appeal of a design patent; FBI Director Wray testifies on about 1,000 IP theft probes pointing back to Chinese entities; France is the first EU country to adopt the Copyright Directive; Alphabet and Amazon beat revenue expectations; UKIPO discusses potential IP rights exhaustion in the event of a no-deal Brexit; and IP law associations ask the Supreme Court to rule against USPTO in Peter v. Nantkwest.

This week in our nation’s capital, the House of Representatives hosts a series of hearings in the middle of the week on various technology topics including carbon mitigation efforts, modernizing information technology systems in Congress, sustainable chemistry innovations and examination of the White House’s science budget. In. Elsewhere in D.C., the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation explores law enforcement use…

This week on Capitol Hill, committee hearings in the U.S. Senate will focus on innovations related to financial systems, the race to 5G network connectivity and advances in energy-related technologies. In the U.S. House of Representatives, net neutrality makes its return as a hotly-debated topic, while the House Science Committee sets its rules for the 116th Congress, including the delegation of federally-funded research oversight to subcommittees. Elsewhere in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Chamber of Commerce releases the 2019 version of its International IP Index and the American Enterprise Institute hosts an event to look at the impact of technological advances on higher education.

The U.S. Supreme Court has muddied the waters about patent eligibility in a way that threatens American innovation.  Capitol Hill is beginning to discuss this as a possible legislative issue for 2019.  Some would say it is as important as the intellectual property disputes in the tariff war with China… Intellectual property legislation traditionally is nonpartisan, which may make it a little easier to find a solution.  All members of Congress will support preserving the patent system’s incentives for innovation if they understand what is at stake for the country.