"America Invents Act"

[CG6468]

The America Invents Act is bad for the economy
By Steven F. Borsand - 06/21/11 11:53 AM ET

Trading Technologies (TT) is a Chicago based software company with around 600 employees. We develop software for the financial industry and must continually innovate to stay competitive. We know from real world experience that H.R. 1249 as currently drafted is bad for the economy.

Like many companies, TT invests millions of dollars every year on R&D. The patent system is what permits us – as well as all innovators (including individuals, start-ups, small businesses and large corporations) – to protect inventions and make R&D worth the effort and investment.
 
Sadly, the misnamed “America Invents Act” (expected to be considered by the House this Wednesday) will not improve our patent system; rather, it is business as usual in Congress, favoring big banks and other special interests. Contrary to claims of supporters, this bill will stifle innovation, kill jobs, and further backlog the patent office (“PTO”). Opposition to the bill has been mounting as people become more educated.

For 220 years, the U.S. first-to-invent patent system has fostered more innovation and opportunities for inventors than any other system in the world. However, in the name of “harmonization,” Section 3 of the bill will change our patent system from one that values the inventor to a first-to-file system that values government bureaucracy and bigger corporations. Section 3 will create a “race to the PTO” favoring larger companies, force inventors to spend money on filing unnecessary patents (before vetting the invention’s merits) that could otherwise be used to create jobs, and increase the PTO’s workload.

Section 5 establishes adversarial court-like procedures for infringers to challenge issued patents at the PTO. This will create new work for the PTO that it is ill-equipped to handle and further burden small/medium sized businesses; forcing them to spend more money on lawyers and less investing in R&D and jobs.

Most troubling, Section 18 of the bill amounts to a special earmark inserted in the Senate at the last minute per the request of the banking lobby. The provision discriminates against a class of patents that big banks infringe, financial related “business method patents” (“BMPs”). While the bill’s court-like opposition procedures are forward looking and time limited for every other type of patent, Section 18 expands the time limits just for BMPs and even allows banks to institute these procedures against already issued BMPs (even patents already tested in court).
   
Section 18 will affect many companies, including ours. TT owns patents that have gone through a trial in Federal Court, an appeal and two different reexaminations at the PTO. Yet, Section 18 will likely require TT to spend more time and money defending these tested patents. Only lawyers stand to benefit from this.

LINK: Idiocy Reigns in Government

[DefiantSix]

"Only lawyers stand to benefit from this."

Hence the reason it's a big hit with congress-shits on both sides of the aisle, and of course, the Boy pResident.

[thundley4]

It's just more of the BS of trying to get US law to be more in accordance with other countries. It isn't about what is right and just.

[CG6468]

It's just more of the BS of trying to get US law to be more in accordance with other countries. It isn't about what is right and just.

More like Europe, which has worked out SO well!

[JohnnyReb]

More like Europe, which has worked out SO well!

I don't know if this is true or not but I was once told that if you invent something...patent it in France first or as quickly thereafter as you can. The reason being that in France it's first come, first served at the patent office and anyone can steal your invention.

[DefiantSix]

Did anybody else notice that while Boehner was busy dodging his constitutional responsibility to rein in the out of control executive branch today, the cocksuckers in the House passed this by a pretty wide margin?