On May 21 during its weekly meeting the Senate Judiciary Committee held over consideration of Chairman CHUCK GRASSLEY’S “PATENT Act,” S. 1137. Under committee rules consideration of the bill will be held over until the committee’s next meeting on June 4, after the Memorial Day recess.
In his opening statement, Grassley said he was working with Ranking Member PATRICK LEAHY and other members of the committee to draft and vet a provision to address perceived weaknesses in the USPTO’s post grant proceedings. He cautioned that “no one will get everything they want” and said the committee’s goal was to strike a balance that would increase confidence in the fairness of the proceedings without gutting them.
Politico reported that House Judiciary Chairman BOB GOODLATTE has been circulating a list of possible modifications to his “Innovation Act,” H.R. 9 that could make the bill more similar to the Senate bill. Possibilities include addressing stakeholders’ concerns about post grant proceedings, as well as updates to provisions providing for customer stays and stays of discovery pending resolution of certain motions. The list also identifies a provision on venue as a possible modification, to clarify that a patent infringement suit may be brought only in a judicial district reasonably connected with a dispute. Earlier this week Goodlatte delayed a markup of the bill until after the Memorial Day recess to continue discussions about possible changes.
A chart comparing the main provisions of S. 1137 and H.R. 9 with IPO positions is available on the IPO website.
