Senate passes patent bill

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

After six years of squabbling over how to fix the country’s patent system, the Senate passed a bill Thursday touted by lawmakers as important for creating jobs and encouraging innovation.

But a wide range of patent experts said that the bill had been so watered down after years of debate and lobbying that it will do little to repair the country’s dysfunctional patent system — and is unlikely to spur much job growth.

“Every time I’ve heard either a Republican or Democrat talking about jobs relating to the patent bill, I feel like I’m in ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ ” said Ed Black, president and chief executive of the Computer and Communications Industry Association. “Unless they’re counting patent lawyer jobs, it’s very unlikely.”

The bill comes as many of the country’s biggest technology firms increasingly arm themselves with patents to launch or protect themselves from costly lawsuits. Google paid $12.5 billion for cellphone maker Motorola Mobility this summer, in large part to increase its patent arsenal as rivals sue the company and its partners.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/senate-passes-patent-bill/2011/09/08/gIQAvmM8CK_story.html

[russspeakeasy]

1. If this waste of 6 years doesn't make you sick, you haven't

:puke: been paying attention to what is going on around you, or your town,or your neighborhood.....These peckerheads add virtually nothing to the economy..and should be euthanized.

[Hosnon]

2. No. No. No. First-to-invent, not first-to-file.

Powerful over powerless once again.

[ixion]

3. “Unless they’re counting patent lawyer jobs, it’s very unlikely.”

Exactly. This is just another handout to big corporations that can file patents as a matter of habit. For actual innovators and small inventors, it won't change a thing. :grr:

[Gator_Matt]

4. Patent attorneys are not the villains here

I'm a patent agent and in law school, but I'm against this bill. It has a post-grant review process that has the potential to screw over the little guy (i.e. corporations can challenge a patent, costing the opponent a fortune). I'm also not crazy about first-to-file. It'll hurt smaller inventors trying to secure funding for their inventions before they file patents. Right now, they have a year grace period.

By the way, I think people confuse patent trolls with your average patent attorney. Those people are few and far between, and most aren't attorneys.

[SixthSense]

5. First to file will wreck small business

Large corps with in-house patent groups will be able to beat them every time. Another big-time giveaway to megacorps, and another hit to job creation as starting a small business just got that much more risky.

[Hosnon]

6. +1. nt.