Patent Baristas

After seeing the Senate Judiciary Committee vote to approve Senate bill S.515, the Patent Reform Act of 2009 (Leahy, Hatch, Schumer, Whitehouse), you have to wonder why compromise couldn’t have arrived earlier — and with fewer campaign donations. But, preliminary reactions seem hopeful: Innovation Alliance The Innovation Alliance, a coalition of companies seeking to enhance […]

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve a patent reform bill, despite opposition from Sen. Orrin Hatch. This will send the bill to the Senate for a vote after including amendments. The Senate Judiciary Committee held an Executive Business Meeting to consider S.515, the Patent Reform Act of 2009 (Leahy, Hatch, Schumer, Whitehouse).  The legislation   […]

The Senate has confirmed Former Washington Gov. Gary Locke as Commerce Secretary by unanimous consent. The United States Department of Commerce is the Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth and operates the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). President Obama will now be looking to choose an Under Secretary of […]

In a game of one-upmanship,  Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) introduced — and apparently with a straight face — Senate bill (S. 610) as an alternative to the earlier introduced bills, S. 515 and H.R. 1260.  While differing in the standard for showing  inequitable conduct, the bill still retains the dreaded applicant quality submissions (AQS) that […]

Apparently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit could not bear to see an end to the drama between the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and its customers over proposed patent application rules.  The CAFC set out a mixed opinion on the rules proposed by the USPTO saying that they are procedural but […]

The USPTO published a notice in the Federal Register that extends the period for public comment on deferred examination until May 29, 2009.  You now have plenty of time to put together that pithy memorandum with your thoughts on why the Patent Office should or should not park patent applications on a shelf for years […]

The Senate Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled a full committee hearing on “Patent Reform in the 111th Congress: Legislation and Recent Court Decisions” for Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 226 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building. The Patent Reform Act of 2009 legislation (S.515 and H.R.1260) is set to pick […]

The Innovation Alliance, a coalition claiming to be committed to improving patent quality while protecting and promoting innovation, claims that the court system has taken up patent reform on its own making it more difficult for innovators to obtain and enforce patent rights and thus making patent reform moot. The group claims that when patent […]