On Monday, the House Committee on the Judiciary announced that it would be holding on hearing on its patent reform bill (H.R. 1260) on April 30, 2009 at 10:00 AM (Eastern).  Although the Committee posted a notice regarding the hearing on its website, it did not release a witness list until today.  The witnesses scheduled to appear before the Committee include:

Interestingly, Mr. Johnson will be making his second appearance at a Congressional patent reform hearing this year, having appeared as a witness at the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing in March.  Like Mr. Johnson, Tessera will also be getting a second chance to address a Congressional hearing on patent reform, with Mr. Cassidy replacing Tessera Vice President Taraneh Maghamé, who appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Despite her company's focus (micro-electronics and imaging/optics), Patent Docs readers may recall that Ms. Maghamé testified that a gatekeeper approach, in which the court determined the Georgia-Pacific factors to be considered by the jury, was the best method for calculating a reasonable royalty (see "Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on Patent Reform").

Unfortunately, the witness list for the House hearing appears to be nearly as imbalanced as the witness list for the Senate hearing.  While Mr. Johnson — the lone life sciences representative at the Senate hearing — will be joined by Mr. Lasersohn of the Vertical Group, a venture capital firm focused on medical technology and biotechnology, the Coalition for Patent Fairness will once again be well-represented, with Mr. Simon and Mr. Chandler taking over for Mr. Appleton, the Chairman and CEO of Micron Technology, Inc.  The witness list also includes Mr. Kamen, the inventor of the Segway, who is described on DEKA's website as an inventor, entrepreneur, and tireless advocate for science and technology and Professor Thomas from Georgetown University Law School.