[Ecommerce] NDC support for patent reform

[Manon Ress]

http://www.promotetheprogress.com/

May 25, 2005

Details of the New Democrat letter of support for patent reform: Focus
is on litigation reforms, including changing the injunctive relief calculus

Last week, the New Democrat Coalition (NDC) issued a letter to
Representatives Lamar Smith and Howard Berman expressing support for
their patent reform efforts.  I referenced an article discussing the
letter yesterday.  I have obtained a .pdf copy of the letter and made it
available for viewing and/or downloading here.

In the letter, which is signed by 14 Representatives, the NDC conveys
its =93strong support for =85[the] efforts to draft patent reform
legislation in the 109th Congress.=94

While the letter indicates that the NDC supports efforts to advance
legislation that will improve patent quality and provide common sense
litigation reform, the focus is clearly on litigation.  For example, the
letter lists four specific reforms that the NDC urges Representatives
Smith and Berman to include in their legislation. Three of the four
reforms are litigation-oriented (injunctive relief, treble damages, and
apportionment of damages).  The fourth is related to patent quality
(third party submission of art).

The letter reserves its strongest language for the injunctive relief
suggestion: "=85we encourage the Committee to take aim at those who seek
to abuse the patent system for profit." (emphasis added)  The NDC is
supported by the hardware and software industries, and its plea for
including a change to the calculus for awarding injunctive relief
appears to put it at odds with other backers of the reform movement,
such as the pharmaceutical industry and small business and individual
inventor lobbies.

It's only becoming more clear that the injunctive relief provision is
the single most controversial component of the reform movement.


01:15 AM in Legislation ~Patent reform
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Manon Anne Ress
manon.ress@cptech.org,
www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC PO Box 19367,
Washington, DC 20036, USA Tel.:  +1.202.387.8030, fax: +1.202.234.5176

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