House Passes Patent Reform Bill, Concerns Remain Within Industry

The House voted 220-175 this month to pass a patent reform bill, despite opposition from the White House and industry.

The Patent Reform Act, H.R. 1908, and its Senate counterpart, S. 1145, weaken important protections by making patents easier to challenge and cheaper to infringe, according to AdvaMed general counsel Christopher White.

White added that the bill is threatening patents at a time when American devicemakers need stronger protections to compete internationally.

The House acted on H.R. 1908 Sept. 7, despite a letter from House Republican leadership to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) asking her to continue to work on the bill instead of scheduling it for quick consideration. The Senate and House judiciary committees passed the Patent Reform Act, S. 1145 and H.R. 1908, in July.

The act would convert the U.S. patent system from a first-to-invent system to a first-to-file system, which will give the system more clarity and certainty, according to Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), who introduced the bill.

The Bush administration does not support a provision in the bill that would limit a court’s discretion in determining damages to compensate for a patent infringement, according to a statement from the White House Office of Management and Budget. While the administration supports passing patent modernization legislation, it will oppose H.R. 1908 until that provision is revised, the office said.

A copy of the bill is available at thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.01908:.