[A2k] For debate in new US Congress see CCIA white paper: "Patent Policy for a Digital Economy"

[Manon Ress]

The CCIA White Paper: =93Patent Policy for a Digital Economy=94 is
available online

QUOTE:
  =93Patent Policy for a Digital Economy.=94  While the report supports
legislative proposals generally favored by the IT sector, it stresses:
    -          the business consequences of making patents easy to
get, more potent, easy to assert, and available for unlimited subject
matter;
  -          the need for aggressive long-term reform to address
abuses and the buildup of costs and risks in patent practice;
   -          the implicit cross-subsidy and backhanded industrial
policy that results from a patent system that works much better in
some sectors than in others;
   -          the need to raise threshold standards of patent quality
in the IT sector to reflect the economic reality of an intensely
competitive, innovation-driven =09=09=09global economy; and
  -          the need for agreement on fundamental principles and for
institutional reforms to guard against capture.

SNIP

Some of CCIA=92s proposals for substantial reform include:

=95 Tailor patent protection to reflect the diversity of innovation
environments.
=95 Raise the basic threshold: eliminate the =93ordinary=94 from patent law=
.
=95 Implement peer review for patent applications.
=95 Reward submissions of prior art that invalidate defective patents.
=95 Require registration of notice letters that assert infringement.
=95 Condition full fee-funding on PTO accountability.
=95 Put PTO at the forefront of knowledge management and information
science.
=95 Stop the ambush of openly developed standards.
=95 Reengineer patent institutions to promote innovation, preclude
capture, and
reduce costs.


The report (40 pages) concludes with 9 recommendations.  It may be
downloaded from the CCIA website at http://www.ccianet.org/modules/
patentPDFs/CCIA_WP_PatReformDigEcon.pdf

The two-page executive summary is also available separately at http://
www.ccianet.org/modules/patentPDFs/CCIA_WP_Patent_Exec_Summ.pdf

And if you would like a printed copy, please contact Hunter McIntosh,
Director of Communications at hmcintosh@ccianet.org

More information contact: Brian Kahin
Senior Fellow
Computer & Communications Industry Association
666 11th St., NW
Washington, DC 20001
202-783-0070 x101
bkahin@ccianet.org