Patent reform bill aims to streamline authorization, encourage job creation

Accelerating technology is proving too much to manage for the antiquated United States Patent and Trade Office. The U.S. patent system has been politicized in meaningless debates for decades, however the latest round of reforms might finally take hold in one form or another. Goals of patent reform include reducing backlog, increasing funding and creating jobs.

All of the “millions of jobs lying in wait” because of patent reform indecision

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 House has decided to debate the patent reform bill. This is in its own version though. The House will probably not like the U.S. 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. The U.S. Patent and Trade Office have been staying the same while the technology has been going up each day in the last six decades. Now, there are over 700,000 patent applications in backlog and getting a patent will take at least three years. Wednesday, in a House Subcommittee testimony on Intellectual Property, USPTO director David Kappos said that "millions of jobs lying in wait" could possibly be stopped if the wait might be shortened to about a year.

Patent reform significant provisions

The USPTO gets about 500,000 patent applications yearly. That means lots of work processing. Congress sets the USPTO spending budget, determines the fees it can charge and spends some of the revenue on programs unrelated to patent authorization. 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 additional $300 million a year to hire more staff and invest in a state-of-the-art patent review and authorization system. Patent reform would also help keep patent disputes out of the courts by allowing the USPTO to look at commercially viable patents a third party tries to invalidate, which is currently done through litigation. The most controversial aspect of patent reform might be changing the U.S. patent system from first-to-invent to first-to-file.

Small investors will not benefit

The most argumentation has come from the first-to-file part of the patent reform. Small inventors may not be able to benefit from the Senate version of the patent reform because large companies are able to file patent applications much easier than small inventors. Small inventors can do better than large companies in the current process. The patent is given to whoever invents the product, not whoever puts in the patent first. Smaller inventors may have to give up due to all the costs behind it which is another issue some see with the bill. Most expect the USPTO budget increase will stay the same. Other than that, the rest of the Senate's version is anticipated to go.

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