Opinions & Editorials

July 12, 2010
Conyers: Patent System Needs Updating
By Rep. John Conyers, Special to Roll Call
American technological leadership in telecommunications requires companies to make significant investments in research and development. This research and development leads to innovations such as text messaging, cable television and high-speed Internet access that probably would not have emerged without patent protection. Patents protect investment, keep innovation in the marketplace and create countless jobs. Read more >>

July 12, 2010
Franks: Patent Reform Key to Job Growth
By Rep. Trent Franks, Special to Roll Call
America’s economic recovery as well as its ability to stay ahead of the cutting edge of global technological development are both becoming increasingly centered on the future of patent reform. Read more >>

June 2, 2010
David Kappos Speech — The Innovation Economy: Unleashing Intellectual Property to Fuel Growth and Create Jobs
Center for American Progress
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May 20, 2010
A smart idea: The Patent Reform Act
The Washington Post: Op-Ed
PROTECTING INVENTORS' rights is essential to encouraging innovation and investment. Yet the secretive and lengthy U.S. patent process has too often resulted in the go-ahead for products or developments that are neither novel nor innovative. Read More >>

May 4, 2010
Restoring our innovative edge
Politico: Op-Ed by Gary Locke
As Congress hurtles toward the midterm elections, there are two things everyone agrees Washington needs to keep working on: spurring job creation and promoting continuing economic recovery. Read More >>

March 22, 2010
Patent reform: Good for innovation
Politico: Op-Ed by Sen. Patrick Leahy
Ingenuity and innovation have been mainstays of the American economy since Thomas Jefferson issued the first patent. Discoveries made by American inventors and research institutions, produced by our companies and protected and promoted by our patent laws, have made our system the envy of the world. Read More >>

March 9, 2010
Point/Counterpoint: Do you support patent reform?
EE Times: By Rick Merritt
For more than five years, the U.S. Congress has tried to forge a compromise on how to update the U.S. patent system. The latest effort announced March 4 has already drawn a mix of opposing views. Read More >>

October 7, 2009
Opinion: Congress must pass patent reform
Special to the Mercury News by Gary Locke
Since the nation's founding, innovation has fueled our economic growth and has steadily improved our standard of living. Ben Franklin was our first, notable inventor. His explorations ranged from capturing electricity to building bifocals. Today, innovation industries are principal drivers of American economic well-being and prosperity. Read More >>

July 7, 2009
Economy Needs Patent Reform – Now
Investor's Business Daily: Op-Ed By Brackett B. Denniston III and Robert C. Weber
The Senate faces a remarkable opportunity to advance the competitiveness of the U.S. economy, and create jobs through innovation, at a time of unprecedented economic turmoil. And it can be done without investing any taxpayer dollars.
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Patent 'reform' bill is no stimulus for Missouri
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Op-Ed By David Snively
February 24, 2008
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Synopsis: "As we contemplate who will be our next president, it is a good time to reflect on the wisdom of our nation's most influential leaders.
Inventor and President Abraham Lincoln said the introduction of the patent laws was one of the three most important developments in the world's history, along with the discovery of America and the perfection of printing, saying "the patent system added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius."
Lately, there has been a lot of interest on the part of certain companies in changing patent law and a fair amount of genius in naming this effort The Patent Reform Act of 2007, or PRA." Read More >>

A mistake to weaken U.S. patent rights
NewJersey Star Ledger: Op-Ed By Daniele Capezzone
(a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies)
November 26, 2007
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Synopsis: "Advocates claim that the proposed changes would bring the American patent system in line with the European one. Litigation procedures would be streamlined and international cooperation enhanced.

But as a member of the Italian Parliament who is deeply familiar with the European patent system, I believe such a move would be a step backward for patent rights in the United States. It also would retard the efforts of Italy's Parliamentary Productivity Committee to import American-style intellectual property protections into our dormant and overregulated pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors." Read More >>

Don't Let Patent Regs Kill Golden Goose
Investor’s Business Daily: Op-Ed By Sally C. Pipes
November 20, 2006
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Synopsis: "The Patent Reform Act of 2007, while purporting to bring efficiency and flexibility to the patent system, would actually water down existing patent protections.

This may be good for a few large technology firms, whose products incorporate hundreds or even thousands of patented components. But it will inflict serious harm on small entrepreneurs and research-based health science firms, whose livelihoods depend on marketing just a handful of lifesaving inventions." Read More >>

Beware patent reform
San Francisco Chronicle: Op-Ed by Dan Leckrone
November 5, 2007
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Synopsis: "High-tech Goliaths who routinely flaunt the law by abusing their market power are consistently rebuked for regarding themselves as being "above the law" - and justifiably so. The Patent Reform Act now up for vote in the U.S. Senate is but the latest blatant example of how Goliaths are wielding their power to smother innovation. Indeed, the Goliaths seek a major overhaul of our patent system that would pave the way for them to roll over competitors by misappropriating their intellectual property." Read More >>

A dangerous one-two punch
Financial Times: Op-ed by Richard Epstein
October 24, 2007
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Synopsis: "Right now, patent holders everywhere are warily watching the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (PRA) as it winds its way, perhaps inexorably, through the US Congress. One of its key provisions deals with the proper measure of damages in patent cases - a topic that takes on extra importance after the US Supreme Court’s 2006 decision in Ebay v. MercExchange." Read More >>

Patent pain
Houston Chronicle: Editorial
Sept. 28, 2007
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Synopsis: "Patents protect ideas and allow entities and individuals to profit from their work. Weak patent laws are a disincentive to creativity and could saddle the country with patent regulation that stymies innovation and hampers American competitiveness in international markets." Read More >>

The rules of patent reform: First, do no harm
Wisconsin Technology Network: Jim Greenwood
September 5, 2007
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Synopsis/ quote: "Unfortunately, the legislation currently pending in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the Patent Reform Act of 2007, would do more harm than good to the current patent system. The legislation contains several provisions that would devalue patent rights, which could undermine the very foundation upon which biotechnology innovation, and the hopeful future it promises, is built." Read More >>

Patent Reforms Fall Short Of What State Firms Need
Hartford Courant: OP-eds by John L. LaMattina and J. Martin Carroll
(presidents of Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim, respectively)
August 29, 2007
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Synopsis: "Unfortunately, the reliability of our patents is threatened by federal legislation that is under consideration in the House and the Senate. Called The Patent Reform Act of 2007, this legislation makes important beneficial changes that would further align U.S. patent laws with the rules that apply in major jurisdictions outside the country. Unfortunately, it also includes provisions that would limit the value of patents, and it does not include useful reforms that were recommended by the National Academies, advisers to the nation on science, engineering and medicine." Read More >>

Patent bill jeopardizes life sciences innovation
Indianapolis Star: Op-Ed by Sidney Taurel
August 19, 2007
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Synopsis: "As currently written, the Patent Reform Act of 2007 would greatly limit the damages many inventors could receive when their patents are violated, and create a new administrative process for attacking patents via the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office -- without court protection." Read More >>

The laptop vs. the pill bottle
San Francisco Chronicle: Editorial
August 5, 2007
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Synopsis: "The contending forces make up the fast-growing sectors of California's - and the nation's - economy. A consensus decision that avoids extremes is clearly needed." Read More >>

Patently flawed
Boston Globe: Editorial
July 23, 2007
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Synopsis: "INNOVATIONS protected by patents are a wellspring of the US economy -- and especially of the Massachusetts economy. So any congressional reform of the patent law should follow a basic rule of medicine: "First, do no harm." If the current law were as deeply flawed as some critics say, Kendall Square in Cambridge would not be the envy of other nations seeking to create their own incubators of new technology. The most serious problem with the patent system is not its ground rules but simply understaffing of the patent office." Read More >>

June 25, 2007
Stop the attempt to weaken patent system
Concord Monitor: Editorial
Some of the nation's biggest information technology companies are backing a congressional effort led by Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy to, under the guise of "reform," infringe on the ability of patents to protect the rights of their owners. The move threatens the small companies that drive New Hampshire's economy, and the state's congressional delegation should oppose it. Read More >>