State of Innovation

U.S. Reps. Manzullo (R-IL) & Michaud (D-ME) Oppose Patent Reform

Here is some good news on the Patent Reform front.

U.S. Reps. Don Manzullo (R-IL) and Mike Michaud (D-ME) today released the following joint statement in response to today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Manzullo and Michaud have significant concerns with H.R. 1260, the House patent reform bill:

STATEMENT

“We commend Chairman John Conyers, Ranking Member Lamar Smith and the House Judiciary Committee for holding an important oversight hearing today on the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. An efficient and effective U.S. patent system is vital to America’s economic growth. While it’s important to routinely examine the USPTO and its operations, we are concerned that this hearing will fail to address the fact that the current House version of thePatent Reform Act of 2009 (H.R. 1260) hinders American innovation and undermines U.S. job creation by increasing patent lag times, decreasing patent quality, and making patents more difficult and expensive to obtain.

“The key to the success of American innovation has always been strong intellectual property protections, particularly for the small inventor. These innovators will be responsible for the new technologies that will reinvigorate U.S. manufacturing and reassert American competitiveness for the next generation. We encourage the Committee to promptly schedule hearings to address the valid concerns expressed by stakeholders in various sectors – including universities, manufacturing, labor, small inventors, information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and agriculture – with the current version of H.R. 1260.”

May 12, 2010 - Posted by dbhalling | Patents | Don Manzullo, Mike Michaud, patent reform