Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee favorably reported to the Senate S. 3523, the "Innovative Design Protection Act of 2012."
S. 3523 would amend the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act to provide a three-year copyright-like term of protection for fashion designs of articles of apparel and related items.
A copy of S. 3523 as approved by the Judiciary Committee is attached.
Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee favorably reported S. 3486, the "Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act" to the Senate. S. 3486 would provide necessary legislation to implement the Hague Agreement Concerning International Registration of Industrial Designs and the Patent Law Treaty, both of which were ratified by the Senate in 2007.
S. 3486 was approved in the form of an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute, a copy of which is attached.
At 1135 AM on September 16, President Obama signed into law H.R. 1249, the "Leahy-Smith America Invents Act."
The signing ceremony was held at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology ("TJ"), an elite science and technology school in Alexandria that attracts the most outstanding math and science students from the Northern Virginia area.
The three amendments that are described in my Legislative Notice sent this morning at 8:25 were each offered and rejected, and thus the bill will not have to go back to the House for further action, and is cleared to go to the president for signing into law.
The Sessions amendment failed by a vote of 47-51.
The Cantwell amendment failed by a vote of 13-85.
By a vote of 50-48, the Senate voted to table (kill) the Coburn amendment.
This is a follow-up report to the Legislative Report send on Saturday, September 3 regarding a senate vote on patent law reform scheduled for Tuesday, September 6. Saturday's report describes the nature and relevance of that technical but important procedural vote.
Last night Senate Majority Leader Reid announced that the Senate has reached a unanimous consent agreement that will today result in debate and final votes on H.R. 1249, the House-passed patent reform bill.
Copies of ammendments: Sessions am SA 600 | Cantwell amd hr 1249 SA 595 | Coburn am to 1249 SA 599
When the U.S. Senate returns from its five week summer recess on Tuesday, September 6, the second order of business will be an important procedural vote on patent reform legislation. The Senate will resume legislative business at 5 pm on September 6, and following a vote on the nomination of former ABA Secretary Bernice Bouie Donald to be Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, the Senate will vote on a motion by Majority Leader Reid to limit debate on a motion to begin consideration of H.R. 1249, the House-passed Leahy-Smith America Invents Act.
Plans for the Senate to take up next week H.R. 1249, the patent reform bill passed by the House on June 23, appear to have been abandoned.
Because of the dominance of the debt ceiling and budget issues in the attention the Senate, it was felt that some senators may object to Senate consideration of any other matter until action on those matters has been taken. Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, who would like for the Senate to pass the House bill without further amendment, is still hoping to have the Senate act on H.R. 1249 before the month-long August recess.
When I sent my report on Thursday on the passage of H.R. 1249 in the House, the final bill with all the amendments adopted in the House had not been formally assembled (enrolled) for transmittal to the Senate. That has now been accomplished.
A copy of the final bill is attached.
The House of Representatives today approved H.R. 1249, the patent reform legislation that draws one step closer to enactment with today's action. The 304-117 vote on final passage sends the bill to the Senate, which has passed S. 23, a largely similar bill. H.R. 1249, formerly entitled the "America Invents Act," has been renamed the "Leahy-Smith America Invents Act" by an amendment adopted today.
This week the House of Representatives is scheduled to act on H.R. 1249, the "America Invents Act."
The bill is scheduled for debate and voting on Wednesday, June 15. The House Committee on Rules will be meeting Tuesday afternoon to draft a House resolution ("Rule") that will spell out the ground rules for considering H.R. 1249 in the House. That resolution must be voted on and adopted in the House before the bill can be considered. Most often this is done immediately before the bill is taken up.
Last week the six-year congressional journey toward comprehensive patent law reform took another large step forward.
On April 14, the House Judiciary Committee debated and voted on amendments to H.R. 1249, the "America Invents Act," and voted 32-2 to favorably report the bill to the House.
Amendment to H.R. 1249 Offered by Mr. Goodlatte of Virginia.
Yesterday the U.S. Senate continued the debate that began on Monday on S. 23, the patent law reform bill, and held its first vote on amendments. That vote adopted by a vote of 97-2 a "Manager's Amendment" that incorporates a number of changes to the bill that have been agreed upon by a bipartisan group of Senators, including a change in the title of S. 23 to the "America Invents Act."
Copies of S.23 as reported by the Judiciary Commitee and the Manager's Amendment.
Yesterday we reported that U. S. Senate Majority Leader Reid had announced his intention to take up patent reform legislation in the Senate in two weeks. Last night the Senate moved one step closer to making that intention a reality.
Yesterday Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that S. 23, the "Patent Reform Act of 2011," will be debated and voted on in Senate during the week of March 1. The bill was favorably reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 4 by a vote of 15-0.
Additional information on S. 23 is contained in Legislative Reports sent to you on January 13, January 26, and February 4.
A Reuters News Service report on the Majority Leader's announcement can be accessed here
Just eight days after the bill was introduced in the Senate, the Judiciary Committee yesterday ordered S. 23, the "Patent Reform Act of 2011," favorably reported to the Senate. The vote was 15-0, with two abstentions.
Copy of two amendments that were adopted.
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Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy yesterday introduced S.23, the Patent Reform Act of 2011. In keeping with a commitment that Leahy made last week that the Committee will move expeditiously on patent law reform in the new Congress, a Judiciary Committee markup and reporting to the full Senate is scheduled for tomorrow, January 27.
A copy of the text of the bill as it was introduced.
At a meeting today with representatives of dozens of organizations and companies interested in patent law reform, Senate Judiciary Committee staff reported that Chairman Leahy plans Committee early action on patent law reform in the 112th Congress.
Today the U. S. House of Representatives agreed to accept the Senate amendment to H.R. 628, Congressman Issa's bill to establish a pilot program for patent cases in six U.S. district courts. In the districts that are selected for the pilot, a judge who receives a random assignment of a patent case may decline that assignment, with the case then reassigned to another judge of that district who has requested to hear patent cases.
Since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2011 on October 1, the PTO, like all federal agencies, has been funded under a series of stop-gap funding measures ("Continuing Resolutions") that limit expenditures to the level that applied in the previous fiscal year. As a result, funding available to the Office is running more than one million dollars per day below the amount that would be available based on user fee collections and on the amount approved in both the House and the Senate in the early stages of the regular appropriations process.
On November 18, two intellectual property bills were on the agenda of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
S. 3804, the "Combatting Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act."
The Committee, by a vote of 19-0, ordered S. 3804 favorably reported to the Senate. The bill would grant broad powers to the U.S. Department of Justice to move against Internet sites that are identified as primarily dedicated to copyright and trademark infringing activities. The DOJ would be authorized to bring actions, including in rem actions, to enjoin such infringing activities.
A copy of S. 3804 as approved by the Committee
On Tuesday, August 10, President Obama signed into law H.R. 5874, a bill to provide $129 million additional funding for the PTO. The House of Representatives passed H.R. 5874 on July 29, and the Senate approved the bill a day later. This additional funding will be available immediately.
A copy of a Department of Commerce media advisory concerning the signing of the bill is attached.
On June 23, the Senate Judiciary Committee held an oversight hearing on the activities of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC). IPEC was established in 2008 by the PRO IP Act to coordinate activities of all federal agencies involved in enforcing IP laws, both in the U.S. and abroad.
The hearing was the first opportunity for the IPEC, Victoria Espinel, to report to the Congress on the activities and plans of the office that she heads, and to highlight features of the 2010 Joint Strategic Plan that her office sent to Congress and made public the day before.
A copy of the IPEC Strategic Plan is attached
ON May 18 House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, joined by Ranking Member Lamar Smith, introduced H.R. 5322, the “Patent and Trademark Office Funding Stabilization Act of 2010.” The bill combines provisions that would (a) authorize the USPTO Director to set or adjust all patent and trademark fees; (b) establish a temporary 15% surcharge on patent fees, which would begin 10 days after enactment of the legislation and end September 30, 2011; and (c) establish a special “USPTO Enterprise Fund” in the U.S. Treasury, to provide for direct and immediate USPTO access to all user fees collected, without requiring that the funds first be appropriated back to the Office.
Attachments referred to in the legislative news
On Sunday, December 13, the Senate approved the conference report on the massive consolidated appropriations bill (H.R. 3288) that will fund most of the federal government in Fiscal Year 2010, which began on October 1. The House had previously approved the conference report, and the Senate action thus sends the bill to the president for signing into law.
A copy of the Statement of Managers as it pertains to the PTO is attached.
See full notice...On October 15, the Senate Judiciary Committee marked up and ordered favorably reported S. 379, the "Performance Rights Act." S. 379 and H.R. 848, a companion bill in the House, would amend copyright and compulsory licensing laws to apply the performance right in a sound recording to all audio transmissions, thereby removing the exemption on paying performance royalties currently in place for over the air broadcasters.
See full notice...The Obama Administration released its first formal expression of views on patent law reform on October 5, two months after David Kappos was confirmed by the Senate and took the reins of the USPTO. The Administration’s views are contained in a letter from Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to Congress on S. 515, the “Patent Reform Act of 2009.” A copy of Secretary Locke’s letter to the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee is attached.
See full notice...USPTO Director David Kappos today announced major changes in the top management of the Patent Office. Commissioner of Patents John Doll is retiring effective October 2. He will be succeeded by Robert Stoll, a 27 year veteran of the Office who has served in top management positions, including Executive Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, and Administrator of the Office of Legislative and International Affairs. Peggy Focarino will serve as Deputy Commissioner for Patents.
The Commissioner of Patents is appointed by the Secretary of Commerce following nomination by the USPTO Director. Secretary Locke has indicated that he will appoint Stoll when Commissioner Doll's retirement becomes effective. Further details on the impending changes are contained in the media release issued by the Office today http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/speeches/09-15.htm
On August 7, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of David J. Kappos to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office. The Kappos nomination was one of numerous presidential appointments that were approved en bloc by the Senate in its final act on August 7 before adjourning under September 8.
On July 16, the Senate passed H.R. 3114, a bill to allow the Director of the USPTO to borrow funds from trademark operations to support patent related activities. The bill is unchanged from the text passed by the House of Representatives on July 7, thus clearing H.R. 3114 for the White House and signing into law.
See full notice...On June 25, the Senate passed S. 1358, a bill to allow the Director of the USPTO to borrow funds from trademark operations to support patent related activities. Tonight the House of Representatives passed a similar bill, H.R. 3114, which like the Senate bill was introduced and passed the same day.
See full notice...Yesterday the Senate passed S. 1358, a bill to allow the Director of the USPTO to borrow funds from trademark operations to support patent related activities. The bill was introduced by Senator Leahy that same day, and was passed without discussion or debate.
A copy of S. 1358 is attached.
See full notice...Yesterday in the final day of its October 2008 term, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari in Cable News Network, Inc. v CSC Holdings, Inc. (“Cablevision”), letting stand a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit that respondent Cablevision’s network-based technology for copying and replaying television programming for its subscribers did not directly infringe petitioners’ copyrights. Instead of providing its customers with individual set-top digital video recorders, Cablevision developed a system to create and store programming on computer hard drives at its facilities, with copying and transmission to be accomplished by a remote control device operated by Cablevision’s individual customers, much the same as they would do by controlling a set-top DVR.
A copy of the Solicitor General’s brief is attached.
See full notice...On June 18, President Obama nominated David J. Kappos to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The nomination has been sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold a hearing on his confirmation.
Details of the ABA qualifications policy and a description of the background and experience with which Kappos meets those qualifications are included in the Senate letter, a copy of which is attached.
See full notice...Senator Patrick Leahy, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, reported today that President Obama will nominate David J. Kappos to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S Patent and Trademark Office.
A copy of the Leahy press release.
The House Judiciary Committee April 30 hearing on H.R. 1260, the Patent Reform Act of 2009, was well-attended by Committee members, and competing views on key provisions of the bill were ably presented by the witnesses.
Often opening statements are made only by the Chairman and Ranking Member. Yesterday 11 Committee members showed up early and made opening statements, a sure sign of heavy interest in the matter at hand.
Several key members of the Committee made reference to the recent action of the Senate Judiciary Committee in amending and approving the Senate counterpart bill, S. 515. Chairman Conyers opened with a declaration that the House was not going to be a “rubber stamp” for the Senate version of the bill.
Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee, by a vote of 15-4, ordered S. 515, the Patent Reform Act of 2009, favorably reported to the Senate. The Committee adopted one amendment, a “Manager’s Amendment” incorporating several changes to the bill agreed upon by Chairman Leahy, Ranking Member Specter, and other key Committee members in the past two days.
A copy of the amendment adopted yesterday is attached.
See full notice...On Tuesday, March 17, the U. S. House of Representatives by a vote of 409-7 passed H.R. 628, a bill to establish a pilot program in at least six U.S. district courts for handling cases involving patent or plant variety protection issues. Under the program, patent cases would continue to be randomly assigned, at which point the assigned judge may decline the case. In that event, the case will be assigned to one of the judges of the district who have previously requested to hear patent cases.
Copy of the Congressional Record report of the March 17 proceedings regarding H.R. 628, which includes the text of the bill as passed
See full notice...Patent Reform bills were introduced yesterday in the House (H.R. 1260) and in the Senate S 515). Yesterday in this Newsletter we indicated that the advance notice that we had obtained of the introduction of the bills represented that the bills would be identical, as they were two years ago. This turns out to be largely true, but not entirely. Rather than leaving out the first-inventor-to-file provisions pending resolution of the effective date issue, both bills included first-inventor-to file provisions, but with the issue of effective date left unresolved, as it was in the last Congress. H.R. 1260 would postpone the effective date until such time as European countries and Japan adopt a grace period; S. 515 has no such delay provision.
Coy of the two bills Patent Reform Act of 2009 and Patent Reform Act of 2009 as Introduced
See full notice...Bills calling for comprehensive patent law reform are about to be introduced in the House and in the Senate. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy and House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers will hold a press conference this afternoon, at which introduction of the bills will be announced. The bills will be based on patent reform bills from the previous Congress, H.R. 1908 and S. 1145. Leahy and Conyers will be joined by Senator Orrin Hatch and Congressman Lamar Smith, who also served as lead Republican sponsors of patent reform legislation in the 109th and 110th Congresses.
See full notice...House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has revealed plans to abolish the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property in the 111th Congress, which begins on January 3. Matters relating to IP and the Internet will be handled at full committee, and matters relating to the federal courts will be assigned to a newly established subcommittee, which will also have jurisdiction of antitrust issues.
See full notice...On September 30, the United States Senate approved H.R. 6531, the Vessel Hull Design Protection Amendments Act of 2008, without amendment. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives on July 22, and thus the Senate action sends the bill to the president for signing into law.
H.R. 6531 provides copyright-like protection for original designs of boat hulls, decks, or combined hulls and decks. As enacted in 1998 as chapter 13 of title 37, United States Code, the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act currently provides protection for vessel hulls, and defines a hull as including a deck. This definition led to a federal circuit court of appeals decision that a design for a hull not including a deck does not qualify for protection. H.R. 6531 provides for separate protection for hulls and decks, and continues protection for combinations. It also contains a provision exempting designs owned by the Department of Defense from coverage under the Act.On Sunday, September 28, by a vote of 381-41, the U.S. House of Representatives passed S. 3325, a bill with both substantive and structural changes in copyright and trademark law and administration. The bill passed the Senate on September 26, and yesterday’s House action sends the bill to the president for signing into law.
See full notice...On July 22, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6531, a bill to amend the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act. H.R. 6531 provides copyright-like protection for original designs of boat hulls, decks, or combined hulls and decks. The Act currently provides protection for vessel hulls, and defines a hull as including a deck. This definition led to a federal circuit court of appeals decision that a design for a hull not including a deck does not qualify for protection. H.R. 6531 provides for separate protection for hulls and decks, and for combinations of the two.
Copy of H.R. 6531 and H.R. 2033 are attached.
See full notice...Yesterday the House passed S.3295, a bill to change the power of appointment of administrative patent judges of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences and administrative trademark judges of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board from the Director of the USPTO to the Secretary of Commerce.
S. 3295 passed the Senate on July 22, and thus House passage sends the bill to the president for signing into law. All future appointments to the BPAI and the TTAB will be made by the Secretary, and all appointments made by the Director since 1999 are “deemed” to have been made by the Secretary. My Legislative Notice of July 24 included a copy of the bill and additional details on its contents.
The American Inventors Protection Act, enacted in 1999, gave the Director of the USPTO additional powers and degrees of independence from the Department of Commerce. One such additional power was the power to appoint administrative patent judges of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences and administrative trademark judges of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. These appointments were previously made by the Secretary of Commerce.
Also see attachments - S3295 BPAI TTAB Judges | Statement of Sen. Leahy
See full notice...The House Rules Committee, which controls the flow of bills going to the House floor, will meet on Thursday, September 6, to establish the grounds rules for consideration of H.R. 1908 in the House.
See full notice...The legislative week beginning July 16 arguably turned out to be the most active week in the formulation of patent law in the history of the United States. In a 32-hour period on July 18 and 19, both the House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee considered and voted on numerous amendments to their respective patent law reform bills, and favorably reported the legislation. Completion of committee action in both houses of Congress before the August month-long congressional recess keeps the legislation on the timetables set by its authors, and greatly enhances the prospects for enactment of the most far-reaching changes in patent law in a single bill since the enactment of the Patent Code in 1952.
See full notice...On June 6, the Senate Judiciary Committee held its first hearing on S. 1145, the "Patent Reform Act of 2007." The House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property held a hearing on an identical bill, H.R. 1908, on April 26, and reported the bill to the full Judiciary Committee, without amendment, on May 16.
See full notice...On April 26, the House IP Subcommittee held its first, and perhaps its last, hearing on H.R. 1809, the "Patent Reform Act of 2007." An identical bill, S. 1145, has been introduced in the Senate.
The start of the hearing in the House Judiciary Committee was delayed briefly while the Committee scrambled to set up an overflow room for the crowd that lined the corridors and far-exceeded the capacity of the Committee’s main hearing room. Many if not most of those waiting in line were representatives of interest groups that have been occupying similar, less visible lines to lobby members of Congress and their staffs in the past few months as the bills were taking shape and being written.
See full notice...Patent reform legislation has again been introduced in Congress and put on a fast track that its authors hope will lead to enactment before the end of the year. A hearing is scheduled for April 26 in the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, and Subcommittee Chairman Howard Berman is targeting a Subcommittee vote on the bill before the Memorial Day recess.
See full notice...On February 15, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to favorably report S 316, the "Preserve Access to Affordable Generics Act."
See full notice...On February 15, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property held its first hearing of the 110th Congress under the new Democratic leadership. Subcommittee Chairman Howard Berman was joined by 10 other Subcommittee members and a standing room only crowd for a hearing entitled "American Innovation at Risk: The Case for Patent Reform." Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, a former member of the Subcommittee who was very active on the Subcommittee in the past two Congresses, also participated in the hearing by special leave of the Subcommittee.
See full notice...On February 12 the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 34, a bill to establish a 10-year experimental program in at least 5 U.S. district courts for the trial of patent cases.
See full notice...The President’s budget proposal for funding the federal government in Fiscal Year 2008 (October 1, 2007-September 30, 2008) was sent to Congress on February 5.
See full notice...President Bush's recommendations for funding the federal government in Fiscal Year 2006 (10/01/05-9/31/06) were sent to Congress today. They include a recommendation of $1.7 billion to fund the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
See full notice...On March 3, by a vote of 379-28, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1561, the “United States Patent and Trademark Fee Modernization Act of 2003.” H.R. 1561 would increase PTO user fees by an average of about 15 percent in order to raise an additional $200 million per year that the Office believes to be needed to implement its 21st Century Strategic Plan. The Plan is designed to improve quality, reduce pendency, and speed transition to electronic processing.
See full notice...In a major victory for the intellectual property community, President Bush on February 2 sent a budget recommendation to Congress that calls for no diversion of PTO user fee revenue in the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2004.
See full notice...
