Patent Reform Reintroduced in House and Senate

On March 3, 2009, major patent law reform bills were introduced in both the House and Senate. S.515 was introduced by Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) introduced H.R. 1260.

The nearly identical bills propose several major changes to US patent law. Among them are a proposed move to a "first-to-file" system in contrast to the current "first-to-invent" system, revisions to the manner in which damages are calculated in awarding successful patent-owner plaintiffs, changes as to how infringement can be determined "willful" and therefore warranting enhanced damages, changes to the inter partes reexamination system, and the creation of a new administrative post-grant review of issued patents.

The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a first hearing on the legislation on
March 10. In 2008 patent reform legislation passed in the House but stalled in the Senate.