American Innovators for Patent Reform Supports Three-Track Patent Examination and Proposes Three-Tier Patent System

July 1, 2010 - The Supreme Court used Bilski v. Kappos to effectively "hit reset." So where does patentability go from here?

AIPR member Gerry J. Elman has co-authored an article with Jerome R. Smith, Jr. called "What Kinds of Inventive Processes Are Patentable?" The article details the background of the case and speculates about the effect of the Supreme Court's Bilski decision on patentability.

June 22, 2010 - A recent article in BNA's Patent, Trademark and Copyright Journal called "Rush to Pass Patent Reform This Year Questioned When PTO Reform Missing" sets forth nine crucial reforms that AIPR board member Pat Choate says are absent from patent reform bills currently before the U.S. House and Senate.

New York − May 25, 2010 − Writing in today’s edition of the Washington Times in an OpEd titled “Patent Reform Misses the Mark,” Alexander Poltorak, president of American Innovators for Patent Reform, and chairman and CEO of General Patent Corporation, criticizes the Patent Reform Act of 2010 and proposes a multi-tier patent system to encourage innovation and job creation.

May 6, 2010 - A new advocacy group, Nevadans for Fair Patent Reform, recently formed to protest Senate Bill 515 and House Resolution 1260. The group's website states that the proposed patent reform legislation, if passed into law, would "negatively impact innovation and entrepreneurial activity in Nevada."

April 29, 2010 - Patrick Leahy (D-VT), the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, came to an agreement with the committee's ranking Republican, Jeff Sessions (R-AL), on a compromise bill - making passage of the Patent Reform Act of 2009 likely this year.

The Senate bill, S.515, increases the "gatekeeping" role of judges in determining whether claims of damages are well-founded. Other major changes included in the bill are a change from a first-to-invent to a first-to-file system, and the creation of a system of post-grant review to determine patent validity.

April 27, 2010 - Dr. Renee Kaswan, the founder of IP Advocate, a friend of AIPR and opponent of the patent reform legislation currently before Congress, announced in a press release that she has settled her seven-year lawsuit with the University of Georgia Research Foundation (UGARF). Dr. Kaswan is a former University of Georgia Veterinary Ophthalmology professor and founder of Georgia Veterinary Specialists.

April 22, 2010 - Alexander Poltorak, the founder and President of American Innovators for Patent Reform (AIPR) as well as the Chairman and CEO of General Patent Corporation, was quoted extensively in a National Law Journal article about the Patent Reform Act of 2009.

Regarding some of the changes proposed in this legislation, he said "post-grant opposition will be yet another way to diminish patent rights and make patents unenforceable and hurt innovation."

March 15, 2010 - Earlier this month, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) announced in a press release that the Senate Judiciary Committee has reached a bipartisan agreement and produced an amendment with compromises designed to make the bill ready for a Senate vote.

"This compromise may not be everything that everyone wants," acknowledged Leahy, "but it makes important reforms to the outdated patent system."

March 10, 2010 - A new feature by EETimes presents both sides of the patent reform argument.

Pat Choate, a member of the AIPR Board of Directors, discusses why the amended Senate patent bill (S. 515) and its House companion (H.R. 1260) have the potential to make patent infringement easier and less costly while weakening issued patents.