Patent bill critique
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
The Patent Reform Act (HR 1908) - marked up by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property May 16 - could "hold serious negative consequences for continued innovation," according to a coalition including the Medical Device Manufacturers Association, venture capital firms and several individual device companies. In a May 15 letter to House and Senate leaders, the group notes potential for provisions in the bill (and its Senate companion S 1145) to create "greater bureaucracy, inability to rely on valid patents, weakened protections against infringement and a decreased access to capital"...