Category: Patent Legislation

By Kevin E. Noonan — An anonymous correspondent writes: 48 hours ago, it looked like the Patent Reform Act was a done deal.  Today, it's not at all that clear. Tuesday afternoon, Harold Rogers (Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee) and Paul Ryan (Chairman of Budget) wrote a letter to Chairman Smith insisting on maintaining…

By Donald Zuhn — House Issues Report on America Invents Act On June 1, the House Committee on the Judiciary issued its report on H.R. 1249, the America Invents Act.  The 165-page report indicates that following consideration of the bill, the Committee now "reports favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that the bill as…

By Kevin E. Noonan — The seeming legislative juggernaut that is the America Invents Act (S. 23 and H.R. 1249) is reportedly going to come to a floor vote in the House of Representatives this month.  If it passes, there is a real chance that the bill will be passed "as is" by the Senate,…

By Donald Zuhn — In similar letters sent earlier today to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke (at right) outlined the Department of Commerce's position on the House version of the America Invents Act (H.R. 1249), which was reported out of Committee almost seven weeks ago…

By Donald Zuhn — H.R. 1249 Could Reach House Floor in June In Friday's IPO Daily News, the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) reported that "[m]any observers" believe the House version of the America Invents Act (H.R. 1249) will reach the House floor for a vote sometime in June.  While the House Judiciary Committee ordered…

Dear fellow patent attorney: I need your immediate assistance to help defeat a particularly bad patent bill now in its final stages of consideration by the U.S. Congress.  Congress may well be on the verge of passing a great threat to our patent system.  You have seen the blogs and emails explaining how the America…

By Donald Zuhn — Last week, the House Judiciary Committee, following in the footsteps of its Senate counterpart, reported a patent reform bill — in this case H.R. 1249 — out of committee and to the floor of the House for a possible vote (see "House Judiciary Committee Approves H.R. 1249").  The Committee's approval of…

By Kevin E. Noonan — The House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary today approved H.R. 1249 (the "America Invents Act") and reported the bill to the House floor by a vote of 32-3, with Representatives John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), Steve King (R-IA), and James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI) voting against the measure.  Along the way,…

By Donald Zuhn — On Tuesday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) offered a Manager's Amendment to H.R. 1249, the House version of the America Invents Act (see "House Judiciary Chairman Releases Manager's Amendment to H.R. 1249").  While response to the amended version of H.R. 1249 appears to be more muted than that for…

By Kevin E. Noonan — If politics is the art of the possible, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) (at right) is doing whatever he can to make passage of H.R. 1249 (the "America Invents Act," aka the House patent reform bill) into law.  That includes release today of a Manager's Amendment, which makes…