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Deal Appears Imminent on Patent Reform Legislation
Earlier this month we noted that with the health care legislation seemingly losing steam, that there appeared to be movement on patent reform; yesterday those suspicions were confirmed. Senator Patrick Leahy (D –Vt) indicated at an executive business meeting on Thursday that a compromise bill on patent reform would be forthcoming. The detailed press release, along with a video of the meeting can be found here.
While details of the reported compromise are scant, it appears that USPTO Director Kappos, bar organizations, industry and several prominent senators have worked together to arrive at a new and improved S. 515. It is expected that the details of the compromise bill will be released in the coming days. In the meantime, if you want to become familiar with the history of legislation, provisions, and likely areas of compromise, see my colleague Philippe Signore’s paper on the subject here.
Likewise, I will be speaking on this topic along with Philippe this coming Monday at 4th Annual Patent Law Institute NYC
