According to a Law360 article, most IP attorneys feel “patent reform legislation will be difficult to pass through a divided Congress, unless it is presented as a bipartisan measure and an economy booster.”
Others, however, were hopeful because there has already been significant support from both parties before the midterm election, and many of those advocates remained in office. These optimists feel that a split Congress may be just the right mix to get it approved.
Intellectual Property partner Mark Scarsi is among the optimists, stating: “There has been significant bipartisan support for patent reform, and it may be one of the few issues where parties can find a common ground.”
Scarsi also clarified: “There are specific provisions in the patent reform bill that could be viewed as pro-business. The legislation is proposing a host of reforms, including seeking to implement post-grant reviews to make it harder for business method patents to be issued and asserted against companies, to curb plaintiffs from filing patent cases in inconvenient venues away from companies’ principal place of business, to give guidance on how courts ought to determine damages, and to restrict false patent marking cases to be brought only by parties that allegedly have been competitively injured.”
He added: “Maybe a divided Congress creates a perfect storm in which patent reform can be passed.”
