The AIPLA has issued a response (pdf) to the FTC’s October 2003 patent law report (pdf). Here are some highlights of the report:
The AIPLA
1) Agrees that a post-grant review process may help enhance patent quality;
2) Opposes reducing the presumption of validity associated with an issued patent;
3) Sees no need for any legislative change regarding the suggestion for combining prior art references;
4) Supports additional USPTO funding;
5) Strongly opposes increased use of PTO Rule 105 information requests;
6) Skip for now;
7) Agrees with an 18-month publication rule for all pending patent applications;
8) Supports prior user rights in use before the effective filing date.
9) Strongly supports requiring written notice of infringement or deliberate copying of the patentee’s invention, knowing it to be patented, as a predicate for liability for willful infringement; and
10) Questions whether economic analysis should be applied in patent law decisionmaking.
(Thanks for Dennis Gregory for the update.)
Berkeley’s IPblog has been covering patent reform issues. The NRC is also urging patent reform.