The U.S. House of Representatives today approved The America Invents Act, which will enhance the U.S. patent system, strengthen American competitiveness, and help generate job growth. IBM asserted its support for the House passage and urged quick adoption of the legislation.
The patent reform legislation, H.R. 1249, passed in a 304 to 117 vote.
President Obama has said he will sign the legislation into law, which will mark the most significant update to the U.S. patent system in almost 60 years.
I can’t be the only voter who finds it completely ridiculous that the House has stripped the least controversial provision from this bill (ending fee diversion) and passed the most contentious provisions. Without an end to fee diversion, “patent reform” is a waste, or worse.
is there someplace to get a simple, concise (I recognize this is Congress we are talking about) summary of the major changes and perceived benefits of this legislation?
Can someone explain the gist of this ‘America Invents Act’ … in terms that an engineer might understand? Cutting to the chase: will inventors see more money?
@john @Lars I found this one-page summary http://leahy.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/PRESS-Summary-OnePager-FINAL.pdf
The 3rd party prior art provision is something that a lot of the IBM technical community can get behind. Simply by becoming experts for the US Patent Office. http://peertopatent.org/
Maurice, Great link to concise summary.
Biggest change across the board seems like the 9 month “open window” in which other companies / experts can challenge patents.