By TREVOR REID | [email protected] | Greeley Tribune
PUBLISHED: July 8, 2023 at 8:17 p.m. | UPDATED: July 8, 2023 at 8:38 p.m.
U.S. Rep. Ken Buck late this past month introduced a bipartisan bill he hopes will encourage American innovation by reforming the administrative body of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Buck, a Republican representing Colorado’s 4th Congressional District including Windsor, on June 27 partnered with Rep. Deborah Ross, a Democrat from North Carolina, to introduce the Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership (PREVAIL) Act. The bill would make changes to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The reforms would require people challenging patents to have a valid reason for doing so, limit repeated petitions challenging the same patent and align PTAB and federal district court standards for interpreting patent claims as well as burdens of proof. The reforms would also require challengers to choose between making validity challenges before the PTAB or in district court to end duplicative patent challenges. To increase transparency, the bill would also prohibit the Patent and Trademark Office director from influencing PTAB panel decisions.
“To secure America’s technological dominance and bolster our national security, we must update our patent process to ensure it is fair, transparent and efficient,” Buck said in a news release announcing the legislation’s introduction. “The PREVAIL Act makes commonsense reforms to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) by safeguarding patents and removing duplicative legal proceedings, thereby encouraging American innovation.”
Sens. Chris Coons and Thom Tillis on June 22 introduced a Senate version of the bill. It was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Coons and Tillis are the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Judiciary Committee’s Intellectual Property Subcommittee.
The Council for Innovation Promotion (C4IP), the Biotechnology Innovation Organization and the Innovation Alliance have endorsed the bill, according to a news release from Coons’ office.
“Patents are the crucial equalizing mechanism by which inventors from all backgrounds can engage in risky R&D efforts and commercialize successful innovations,” said David Kappos and Andrei Iancu, C4IP co-chairs and former USPTO directors in the release. “The PREVAIL Act contains critically necessary reforms to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, which will return it to its original vision and purpose of providing a low-cost, efficient alternative to district court litigation, and will curtail the practice by patent infringers of forcing inventors to defend their intellectual property in multiple fora at once.”
Buck and Ross’ bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee, of which Buck and Ross are members.