I’ve been informed that, contrary to what many expected, Senator Leahy will be taking over the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, with Senator Coons moving to a newly reconstituted Privacy, Technology, and the Law Subcommittee. Senator Leahy was one of the authors of the 2011 America Invents Act (AIA), and may…
Tag Archive for senate
New Bill May Lead To Overly Aggressive Blocking Of Goods At Border
by Josh Landau •
A new bill, introduced by Sens. Coons, Tillis, Hirono, and Cassidy, would give Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers the authority to seize goods at the border if they involve design patent violations. Customs already has this authority for goods that violate copyrights or trademarks. But design patents work differently. Trying to use the same…
STRONGER Patents—Bad Legislation
by Josh Landau •
Yesterday, the STRONGER Patents Act of 2019 was introduced by Senators Chris Coons and Tom Cotton, along with a House companion bill introduced by Reps. Steve Stivers and Bill Foster. The bill looks much like the last two times it was introduced [1][2], but there have been a few changes.
What Are We Really Talking About When We Talk About § 101?
by Josh Landau •
After the Senate’s recent § 101 hearings, Senators Tillis and Coons seem to have remained steadfast in their belief that patentable subject matter is a real problem for U.S. innovation. (It’s not.) But there’s a particular flaw in their belief. In a recent article penned by the two Senators, published in Law360, they state that…
Senate Judiciary § 101 Hearings Less Neutral, Helpful Than They May Appear
by Josh Landau •
This week marks the start of three separate hearings on a fundamentally flawed draft § 101 bill. Fortunately, it’s only a draft bill, and there’s still time for it to be modified to make it less harmful. Unfortunately, based on the announced witness list for the first hearing, that might not happen.
Senators Tillis and Coons Draft Fundamentally Flawed § 101 Legislation
by Josh Landau •
Today, staff from Senators Tillis and Coons will sit in a room with a group of stakeholders—primarily patent lawyers and lawyers from the pharmaceutical industry—and discuss their recently released draft for a § 101 bill. That draft bill reflects little of the careful input that has been provided to the Senators over the course of the…
As USPTO Oversight Hearing Approaches, Some Questions On Eligibility
by Josh Landau •
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Andrei Iancu will testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Intellectual Property on Wednesday as the sole witness in a USPTO oversight hearing. The chair of the Subcommittee, Sen. Tillis (R-NC), and the ranking member, Sen. Coons (D-DE), have both expressed an active interest…
Iancu’s First Hearing Answers Questions, Leaves More Open
by Josh Landau •
On Wednesday, April 18, new USPTO Director Andrei Iancu appeared for his first oversight hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Director was more open with the Committee compared to his confirmation process, leading to some interesting discussions. Algorithms Are Already Patentable A number of questions focused on the issue of patentable subject…
The Patent Examination Process Shouldn’t Be An Oversight
by Josh Landau •
Director Iancu will be appearing for his first oversight hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, April 18. This follows on his recent speech at the Chamber of Commerce, at which he emphasized two areas of focus: Patent rights should be more predictable and the system should be more stable. When discussing the patent system, dialogue should be more…
Fee-Setting Reauthorization Bill Introduced In Senate
by Josh Landau •
Senator Coons has long been interested in strengthening patents. While some of his efforts, like the STRONGER Patents Act, would actually harm the U.S.’s innovation economy by strengthening patents at the expense of innovation, his latest bill is different. Last week, Senator Coons (along with Senator Hatch) introduced the Building Innovation Growth through Data for…