US patent bill has House backing
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
A bill introduced by Californian Republican Dana Rohrabacher would ensure that the General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade does not adversely affect US patent holders. GATT calculates patent life as 20 years from the date of application, US patents now expire 17 years after the date of issuance. The US Patent Office estimates patents are issued, on average, 19.5 months after application but industry is concerned about those which fall outside the average.