Posts Tagged: "Patent Reform"

High-Tech Groups and EFF Revive Patent Troll Narrative and Other Lies

Efforts by high-tech companies to undermine both the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act of 2023 and the Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership (PREVAIL) Act ramped up this week, with a joint letter sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee by a number of tech industry organizations on Monday and a campaign launched by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) yesterday.

Blatant Mischaracterizations of PERA Hurt Those the Bill Could Help Most

It is time to set the record straight. For reasons I don’t understand, many inventors are just not being truthful about the provisions of patent reform bills now pending in Congress. In fact, some in the independent inventor community are attempting to rally support to kill the overwhelmingly pro-patent, pro-innovation, patent eligibility bill now pending. This is an enormous mistake that will have tragic consequences unless those who have the most to lose become willing to accept a win, even if that win does not provide them with 100% of what they want.

Vidal Tells Senate IP Subcommittee There Will Be Movement on ANPRM Proposals Soon

The Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property today held a hearing on Oversight of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), with USPTO Director Kathi Vidal as the sole witness. Only a handful of senators questioned Vidal, and only one significantly challenged her in questioning. The hearing differed considerably from the House IP Subcommittee’s Oversight Hearing in April, where Vidal was repeatedly taken to task on the Office’s then-recently issued Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM).

How the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act 2023 Can Be Still Further Improved

On June 22, Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act (“PERA”) of 2023. Elsewhere, I have discussed the substantive changes that the PERA of 2023 made to its predecessor, the PERA of 2022; how several of the changes in the 2023 legislation to the proposed updated version of Section 101 of the Patent Act directly addressed criticisms of statutory language originally proposed in the PERA of 2022; and why the changes result in a clearer bill that even further enhances patent eligibility. I now consider the question: as good as the new proposed Section 101 reads in the PERA of 2023, is there room for still further improvement? The answer is “yes,” for the reason discussed below.

Patently Strategic: Patent Wars – Innovators, Revolutionaries, and the Race to Reform

Over the course of the past couple of months, Dr. Ashley Sloat and I had the opportunity and honor to host conversations with thought leaders across the patent world. Working from their insights, this episode explores the biggest problems plaguing patenting and how those problems impact the innovation economy that so very tightly depends on strong, predictable, and reliable patents. Building on that understanding, we work toward getting a more complete view of the legislative, judicial, and educational solutions needed to get back to the gold standard patent system. In doing so, we not only talk with our guests about their support for the proposed solutions on the table, but we also explore the strongest criticisms.