“The U.S. Senate on Tuesday cleared one of the final hurdles remaining to the passage of a patent-overhaul bill, putting the first major overhaul of the U.S. patent system in decades within reach of becoming law,” Siobhan Hughes reports for Dow Jones Newswires.
“By 93-5, the U.S. Senate voted to end debate on shifting the country to ‘first-to-file’ system for receiving a patent from a ‘first-to-invent’ system. Senate Democratic aides said that final passage could come as early as this week,” Hughes reports. “The U.S. House of Representatives has already cleared the bill, and an earlier version of the measure passed the Senate overwhelmingly earlier this year by a 95-5 vote. President Barack Obama had earlier indicated he would sign a patent-overhaul bill into law.”
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Hughes reports, “Patent overhaul was for years pushed by large companies that say awarding patents to the first inventor creates legal challenges that slow the development of new products. But small entrepreneurs, fearful that they lack the resources to quickly file patent applications, worry about losing out to large corporations with greater means to be the first to file for a patent.”
Read more in the full article here.
Advance on merit only, not noise
“But small entrepreneurs, fearful that they lack the resources to quickly file patent applications, worry about losing out to large corporations with greater means to be the first to file for a patent.”
Don’t see how this will help the country, except to let large corporations to steal from the little guy.
That’s we should encourage more patent trolls.
Bullshit, anyone can file a “poor man’s patent” aka provisional, which is vald for a year, which technically can be extended by another year, without spending more than the cost of registered mail.
http://www.uspto.gov/patents/resources/types/provapp.jsp
Maybe the filing procedure should also be changed. It should be extremely simple for anyone, and secure so that no one can copy you during the process and then be able to get the patent first. But I’m a hundred percent certain this law is less about fairness, and more about large corporations manipulating government to get their profits at the expense of the country. Congress doesn’t represent people, only corporations.
The key word here is “file”. If you get in the queue first, you are first. It is an administratively simpler system. This change will help to standardise patent filing internationally. What are you suggesting makes this unfair?
I really don’t know the first thing about this process, except of complaints from people. That last caveat in the article just brought out my cynicism, especially with all the tv documentaries about all the bad large corporations have caused.
What’s unfair? How about a small company must now file for patents on everything they do that they think is innovative and original, at significant cost, instead of just the few they truly believe deserve protection, and being able to trust that if another company tries patenting something they did first, their documented prior art will invalidated it (though that *still* could cost them legal fees).
This is all about the lawyers and the big companies that can afford them (and bribe… ahem, “lobby” your representatives).
The update to the law is about establishing consistency between U.S. law and international patent processes. It may or may not have unintended consequences with respect to equality of patent access between small and large companies, but I am confident that the rationale behind the change is legitimate.
The US is usually a “my way or the highway” in international agreements. See copyright and free trade agreements–they’re incredibly one-sided, even if the other countries’ politicians are too stupid to realize it. They’re also holdouts against change just because they can be–see the imperial vs. metric debate, and consistent comments by imperial backers “screw what the rest of the world thinks.”
That the US wants to align its patent laws with the international community, says more about how screwed up international patent laws and processes are, than how lacking the US laws currently are.
It’s not the filing procedure that’s the expensive part, it’s properly preparing your patent application so that it will pass review and be deemed an invention. And for that to go smoothly, you need a patent attorney to do the filing.
It’s not about the USPTO filing procedures, it’s about properly preparing your patent application to show the uniqueness of your invention.
Chalk another win up for big business under the false progressive Obama. D or R = All the same, bought and paid for.
Queue the mouth breathing, no logic, neocon rants and emotional, name calling, liberal delusionists…
… queue the “moderate” stand for nothing elitism … It’s funny how “truth” doesn’t squish itself into the middle of opposing views.
I’m no moderate pal, I’m a humanist. I’m driven by Logic, Reason, Compassion, Ethics, & Knowledge. I have been and continue to be educated, I’ve been to war, I’ve labored, I’ve run business, I’ve been on both sides of arguments at different points in life. I continue to question, to EVOLVE, I refuse to accept face value.
I do not suffer idiots or sheep well. I’d say I’m rather extreme if anything.
This forum seems overrun with partisans these days, BOTH equally unreasonable and ugly. That was the point you seem to have missed..
As for what I stand for: People BEFORE profits.
You seem to be driven by a Burning Desire to Come Off as a Self-rightous Douchebag.
I suffer sheep well. Especially if they’re roasted to medium-rare with a little mint sauce. Or perhaps in a gyro with some nice tzatziki spread in…
I’m not sure “first to file” is better than “first to invent”. What is needed is “first to build (and file)”… that would cut down on patent trolls. If you think it up, but don’t build the damn thing, you don’t get the patent. It’s not perfect, but since when has Lodsys (or any other troll) actually built anything? I’d venture never.
That last paragraph in the article above says it all.
You have to have MONEY and TIME (or assistants) to file a patent. That means this is going to be a barrier to little guy inventors, which is entirely unjust.
On the other hand, so long to a hell-of-a-lot of after-the-patent legal BS proving ‘first to invent’, saving LOTS of both MONEY and TIME on the part of just about everyone concerned.
Such is the scale of justice. Never perfect, ever seeking balance. I hope this works.