US Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously votes to send bipartisan patent reform legislation to full Senate

A unanimous vote by the USA’s Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday sent comprehensive patent reform legislation to the full Senate for the third time since 2008. The Patent Reform Act is authored by Senators Patrick Leahy (Democrat, Vermont), Orrin Hatch (Republican, Utah), and Chuck Grassley (Rep, Iowa).

Congressional efforts to reform the nation’s patent system first began in 2005. The legislation approved by the Judiciary Committee on Thursday is the product of years of work and compromise. Enactment of the Patent Reform Act of 2011 will make the first significant changes to the patent system in nearly 60 years, and will create and protect American jobs without adding to the nation’s deficit.

The Patent Reform Act makes changes to inter partes review, Patent and Trademark Office funding, and supplemental examinations. The legislation will also transition the nation’s patent system to a first-inventor-to-file system, create a first-window post-grant review process, provide certainty in damages calculations and findings of willful infringement, and includes important provisions to improve patent quality. The bill is based largely on a bill introduced in the 109th Congress by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (Rep, Texas) and Congressman Howard Berman (Dem, California).