WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) last week signed-on as an original co-sponsor of S. 23 – The Patent Reform Act – a bill designed to improve the quality of patents and reduce the backlog of applications currently crippling a wealth of innovation.

“The Patent Reform Act is an important piece of the groundwork for sustaining America’s competitiveness,” Senator Coons said. “The United States is at risk of falling behind – not in innovation, but in commercializing those innovations. The government can do a much better job of turning inventors into entrepreneurs – spurring innovation, building businesses, and growing our economy. That starts with making sure we tear down the bureaucratic barriers to success.”

As many as 1.2 million patent applications await disposition by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, with the average application taking almost three years and many applications taking much longer.

“It currently takes 26 months after an inventor files a patent application before an inspector from the Patent and Trademark Office even looks at it,” Senator Coons said. “Every day a small business waits for its patent application to be reviewed increases the risk of piracy and threatens its ability to raise capital and put the new product to market. PTO Commissioner Kappos is focused on improving the efficiency of this process and deserves our support. His 2010-2015 Strategic Plan is sound policy, and reflects a significant step forward under current legal constraints.  But Congress can help by passing the Patent Reform Act.”

The Patent Reform Act includes measures for improving patent quality and the process by which they are issued.

-          The Act transitions the U.S. to a first-inventor-to-file system to simplify the application system and bring it into better alignment with our international trading partners.

-          The Act will strengthen patent quality by allowing third parties to submit prior art with explanations as to its relevance, adding unprecedented depth to the application review process.

-          The Act will also strengthen patent quality by introducing a “first window” post-grant opposition proceeding for challengers, helping weed-out patents that should not have been issued.

-          The Act will improve the process for challenging a patent before a panel of administrative patent judges while at the same time including procedural protections so that these challenges are not used for purposes of harassment.

-          The Act prevents patents from being issued on claims for tax strategies.

-          The Act provides more certainty in the calculation of damages for patent infringement.

 A vote on the Patent Reform Act is expected in the Senate Judiciary on Thursday.

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