Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

Lawmakers gear up for patent system overhaul:

WASHINGTON--After years of failed attempts at revamping what the high-tech industry decries as a broken U.S. patent system, a key House of Representatives panel is gearing up for yet another try.

At an afternoon hearing here, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the new chairman of a House Judiciary subcommittee that writes intellectual property laws, did not attempt to mask his intentions. Not only did the panel title the event "American Innovation at Risk: The Case for Patent Reform," but its lineup of four outside speakers consisted exclusively of attorneys and academics who have publicly recommended various fundamental changes to the way patents are granted and contested.

"This is not intended as a hearing to get all the different interested parties (to speak)," Berman said in his opening remarks. Rather, he said he was more inclined to bring in people who, in his view, could make the case "to make patent reform a high priority on my agenda."

It's neither a new nor a partisan objective. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), who previously headed the intellectual property panel, also proposed sweeping changes. Speaking at Thursday's hearing, Smith even referred to the intellectual-property panel an "oasis" in which politicians have more policy goals in common than usual.

But efforts at making changes to patent law have faltered in part because of disagreements among a number of high-powered industries about the route Congress should take.

One dispute, for example, lies in how damages would be awarded to patent holders who win infringement suits. Silicon Valley companies would like that calculation to be based not on the value of the entire product, but on the value of the patented element, because their products often include thousands of different patented elements. But the pharmaceutical industry, whose products may involve only one patent, argues that approach fails to reward inventors appropriately.

Berman said Thursday that he and a number of his colleagues plan to introduce a patent bill soon. In the past five years, he and Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) have introduced two different bills aimed at boosting the quality of patents that are awarded, but those efforts were never approved.

It's not entirely clear what will be included in their next measure, expected to be proposed within the next month and debated soon after. Berman did say Thursday that any recipe for patent system overhaul should ensure that the patent office has enough funding to hire an ample number of examiners and staff. He also emphasized the need for "meaningful, low-cost alternatives to litigation." Both ideas are common themes from previous patent bills in Congress.

Yes, it is not a partisan event, but it never happened in the last 12 years of GOP control of the congress, and... wouldn'tcha know it, all the solutions offered over that time have come from Democrats. Here is an idea or 6:

1. Make everyone receiving federal research grants spend 8 hours a month reviewing patents for "novel and non-obvious".
2. Eliminate software patents completely.
3. Eliminiate genomic patents completely.
4. Reduce the patent coverage by half for me-too products that "solve" a "previously solved" problem -- no more Viagra -> Cialis clones.
5. Require efficacy certifications for pantents based on federal grants.
6. Require an impementation before a patent is granted.