Changes

Jump to navigation Jump to search
no edit summary
Return to [[Innovation Policy#Patent Reform|Patent Reform]] [[114-S1137 PATENT Act]]
'''S.1137: Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship (PATENT) Act (2015)''' [https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/1137 (Congress)]
The PATENT Act was introduced on April 29, 2015 by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. On September 8, 2015, the bill was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Currently the bill has 6 cosponsors (3 Republicans and 3 Democrats). The full title of the bill is "A bill to amend title 35, United States Code, and the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to make improvements and technical corrections, and for other purposes."
The PATENT Act was introduced on April 29, 2015 by Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. On September 8, 2015, the bill was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Currently the bill has 6 cosponsors (3 Republicans and 3 Democrats). <section begin=PatentAct />The full title of the bill is "A bill to amend title 35, United States Code, and the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act to make improvements and technical corrections, and for other purposes." GovTrack predicts the PATENT Act has a 36% chance of being enacted. [https://wwwThe bill is currently bipartisan with 3 Republican and 3 Democrat sponsors.govtrack.us/congress/bills<ref name="patentactgovtrack" /114/s1137 (GovTrack)]>
The House [[Innovation Act ]] and Senate Patent Act are very similar; both . Both acts address abusive litigation through “increased transparency, more limited discovery, heightened pleading standards, and ‘loser pays’ fee shifting”. However, there has been a delay in the passing of the bills because of controversy surrounging the shifting of attorney fees. Fee shifting was originally suggested as a way to incentivize small firms and businesses that were being unfairly accused Members of patent infringement to bring the case Senate Judiciary Committee want to courtreduce frivolous lawsuits, so that they would not have to pay their attorney fees. However, there have been arguments stating that fee shifting would actually increase the settlement rate of small businesses being accused of patent infringementeliminate vague demand letters, because they don’t want to take the risk of losing and paying for prevent extortion by passing the winner’s attorneys’ fees, in addition to their ownPatent Act. [http:<ref name="PAsummary" />The act focuses on the following areas <ref name="PAsummary" /www.bna.com/debate-patent-reform-n17179934625/ (Bloomberg BNA)]>:
*Increasing transparency on patent information and claims. *Reducing litigation costs. *Discouraging abusive litigation practices. <section end=PatentAct /> Feedback on the PATENT Act has been varied. The PATENT Act is strongly supported by Microsoft [https://news.microsoft.com/2015/04/29/microsoft-supports-patent-act/ (Microsoft)] and the National Retail Federation. [https://nrf.com/advocacy/policy-agenda/fair-patent-laws (NRF)] Organizations like the Innovation Alliance [http://innovationalliance.net/from-the-alliance/innovation-alliance-statement-introduction-patent-act/ (IA)] and National Venture Capital Association [http://nvca.org/issues/patent-reform/ (NVCA)] have spoken out against various provisions of the bill. The NVCA states that the PATENT Act, as well as the [[Innovation Act]] (H.R.9), will increase the risk of patent litigation for startups by creating an overly broad fee shifting system that gives large companies and large patent trolls with huge financial resources an advantage against smaller startups. =Summary=Provisions==
===Pleading and early disclosure===
The PATENT Act requires patent owners to identify each claim of each patent allegedly infringed and which products or processes are infringing. If the details are not available, the patent owner must explain why.
===Customer stay===
The act allows cases against consumers to be stayed while the manufacturer litigates the alleged patent infringement , if the manufacturer is involved in a similar case in the United States. This stay is only for consumers at the end of the supply chain who are using the product in its final form without material modifications.
===Discovery limits===
The PATENT Act requires a court to stay expensive discovery pending the resolution of preliminary motions, such as the dismissal of a case, a change of venue, of the or severance of accused infringers.
===Fees and recovery===
===Disclosure of patent ownership===
The PATENT Act requires patent holders to disclose to the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO ) whenever there is an assignment of interest in the patent that results in a change of ultimate parent entity. This transparency allows defendants to who has a stake in the case, as well as if the patent has been litigated before.
===Small business provisionsBusinesses===
The act directs the PTO to develop educational resources for businesses targeted by patent suits and to create a list of pending patent cases on its website.
 
==References==
<ref name="PAsummary"> [https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Patents,%2004-29-15,%20PATENT%20Act%20-%20One%20Pager.pdf] 'The Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship Act (PATENT) Act: Short Summary', "Senate Committee on the Judiciary" (Washington, D.C). </ref>
<ref name="patentactgovtrack"> [https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/s1137] 'S.1137: PATENT Act', 'govtrack.us'. </ref>
 
[[Category: Public]]
[[Public Classification::Legislation| ]]

Navigation menu