Patent reform bill seeks to streamline authorization, spur job creation

The U.S. Patent and Trade Office are outdated, inefficient and overwhelmed by technological evolution. After kicking the can down the road again and again, Congress may be about to make meaningful changes to a United States patent system in stasis since 1952. More innovation, more patent office money and more jobs are benefits touted by supporters of patent reform. Post resource – Patent reform bill aims to streamline approval, spur job creation by MoneyBlogNewz.

Patent reform: “millions of jobs lying in wait”

It was clear that Senate was happy to pass the patent reform bill earlier this month. It was voted 95 to 5 to pass. The patent reform bill is being debated in House this week though. The House will probably not like the Senate version of the patent reform bill very much. All of the lawmakers agree a patent reform bill is necessary; the way to go about that is argued on quite a bit. An average three year wait for approval is now standard while there’s a backlog of over 700,000 patent applications due to the six decades of technology advancements while the United States Patent and Trade Office has stayed the same. The bill would make the wait time go down to a year so that "millions of jobs lying in wait" might be resolved quicker according to USPTO director David Kappos. Kappos gave a presentation Wednesday on Intellectual Property to the House Subcommittee.

Additional patent reform provisions to consider

Each year the USPTO accepts about 500,000 patent applications. Congress sets the USPTO spending budget, determines the fees it can charge and spends some of the revenue on programs unrelated to patent approval. Probably the most significant change in patent reform would allow the patent office to create its own fee structure and keep all the money. Kappos said the USPTO would have an extra $300 million a year to hire more staff and invest in a state-of-the-art patent review and approval system. Right now, litigation looks at commercially viable patents that a 3rd party tries to get invalidated which could be done by the USPTO instead keeping patent disputes out of courts. Probably the most controversial aspect of patent reform may be changing the United States patent system from first-to-invent to first-to-file.

Benefit not for small investors

The first-to-file provision in patent reform has generated the most opposition so far. Small inventors are unable to file patent applications as easy as large corporations. This can be a concern many against the U.S. Senate version have made known. Currently, a small inventor that proves it has beat a large competitor to advancement gets the patent, regardless of whether the large business filed first. The bill’s opponents also believe the 3rd party review is just adversarial litigation by another name that will force smaller inventors to give up on their innovations due to the cost. Almost everything in the U.S. Senate bill is anticipated to be taken away except the part about increasing the USPTO budget, many expect.

Citations

CNN Money

money.cnn.com/2011/03/30/technology/patent_reform/index.htm?iid=HLM

bNET

bnet.com/blog/technology-business/senate-passes-a-patent-bill-but-don-8217t-hold-your-breath-for-actual-reform/9124

Washington Post

washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-tech/post/qanda-small-inventors-raise-patent-overhaul-concerns/2011/03/28/AFLJ9NpB_blog.html