As even our non-U.S. readers must know, the U.S. government is currently in a partial shutdown. On the first day of the shutdown, Matt Levy explained what it means for patents, from the PTOPatent and Trademark Office, informally used interchangeably with USPTO. to the ITCInternational Trade Commission and federal courts to Congressional staff working on patent reform, which also made its way into IP-Watch. On Wednesday, the Progressive Policy Institute came out with a report on how patent trolls harm innovation, which along with a report from this summer by the conservative Manhattan Institute, not to mention the bipartisan support for reform in Congress, demonstrates that this is an issue affecting citizens from across the political spectrum. And on Monday, David Balto wrote about the FTC’s newly announced 6(b) study on patent trolls, and gave some guidance for their inquiry.
Did we miss something? Questions or suggestions? Feel free to leave a comment below, mention us on Twitter (@PatentProgress), or email us: patentprogress[AT]ccianet[DOT]org
