Blog

House to Hold Patent Reform Hearing Today

Authors

Correction: Our post below indicates that S.23 still contains the damages provisions. The damages provisions were removed from the Senate bill that passed on March 8.

The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on new House-based patent reform legislation (H.R. ____; number as yet) that is expected to be very similar to "America Invents Act" S.23, which the Senate passed on March 8, 2011. A March 24, 2011 version of the House bill can be seen at http://docs.piausa.org/112th-Congress/HouseBill/HousePatentReformDraft-SLS_132_xml.pdf. This draft of the House bill does not appear to include the damages provisions that are contained in S.23.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith is expected to introduce the patent bill this morning (Wednesday). A number of witnesses are expected to testify at the hearing including Witnesses at the hearing will include PTO Director David Kappos, Jon Vaughn, Vice President of the Association of American Universities, and several individuals from private industry.

We are sure there will be much more to report in the coming days and weeks and will keep you posted on new developments as they happen.

The opinions expressed are those of the authors on the date noted above and do not necessarily reflect the views of Fish & Richardson P.C., any other of its lawyers, its clients, or any of its or their respective affiliates. This post is for general information purposes only and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is formed.