PUBPAT in Congress » U.S. Congress Invites PUBPAT Executive Director to Testify About Patent Reform

U.S. CONGRESS INVITES PUBPAT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO TESTIFY ABOUT PATENT REFORM

NEW YORK -- June 8, 2005 --  The Public Patent Foundation ("PUBPAT") announced today that Executive Director, Dan Ravicher, has been invited by the U.S. House of Representatives to testify at this week's hearing on a proposed bill to reform the patent system.  Ravicher will make a presentation and then answer questions from Representatives on the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, including Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Ranking Member Howard Berman (D-CA), at the hearing scheduled for 9:00 am EDT on Thursday, June 9, 2005.

"The interests of the non-patent holding public are almost always absent from any meaningful participation in decision making about the patent system, despite the fact that they bear the brunt of its burdens," Ravicher stated in written testimony submitted prior to the hearing. "Patent policy should be made with consideration of all of the public's interests, not just the specific interests of the PTO, patent holders, patent practitioners, and large commercial actors."

Patent reform has been a topic of extensive discussion in Washington recently, with the House and Senate having several hearings on the subject.  A widely circulated proposed patent reform bill includes provisions reigning in undeserved injunctions, limiting the ability of patent applicants to file unlimited numbers of continuation applications, and creating a post-grant opposition procedure allowing the public to more efficiently verify the validity of issued patents.  In his written testimony, Ravicher commented on each of these provisions and also raised several other areas in need of reform not addressed in the proposed bill.

More information about PUBPAT's testimony to Congress on patent reform, including a complete copy of Mr. Ravicher's written statement, can be found at PUBPAT in Congress.