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.