H.R. 6621 Hits a Temporary Snag

Rep. Lamar Smith pushed for a voice vote today for H.R. 6621. However quick passage was thwarted by the Orange County Republican Dana Rohrabacher. Rohrabacher’s concern regards revised section (m) of the Bill that would require the USPTO to provide a report to Congress of pre-URAA cases that are still pending at the USPTO (i.e., patent applications filed prior to June 8, 1995 that are still pending at the USPTO). The particular concern is that the report would publicly identify the names of the inventors concerned and thus be contrary to the law requiring information regarding those applications be kept secret until patent issuance. It is unclear whether Smith will push for a roll call vote later this week or instead again amend the bill to mollify Rohrabacher’s concern.

6 thoughts on “H.R. 6621 Hits a Temporary Snag

  1. 4

    Hey, don’t blame the examiners for this. If these cases are getting the attention of people at such lofty heights as Leahy and Smith, then just about every decision concerning examination of these cases is being made far above the examiners’ pay grade.

  2. 3

    Why can’t Congress just agree to keep the names of the proscution laches perps secret, along with the names of the examiners that let these applications rot on their dockets for more than 17 years?

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