US Senate to vote on patent reform

The US is to introduce much-needed reforms of its patents regime with legislation on which the Senate is expected to vote shortly.

The America Invents Act will enable the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to keep the fees it receives from patent applications. Previously fees have been diverted into the Federal treasury.

The USPTO has been calling for this change for some years as vital to clear a mountainous back-log of patent applications.

A record 209,000 patents were issued in 2010. But around 1.2 million applications are still in the USPTO's in-tray, of which 500,000 are being processed and 700,000 await initial action.

The back-log has been identified by politicians as a drag on US competitiveness in the global market.

"Among them could be the next medical miracle, the next energy breakthrough, the next leap in computing ability, or the next killer app," said Senator Patrick Leahy, one of the driving forces behind the legislation.

"We should be doing all we can to help [David Kappos, USPTO director] and the dedicated women and men of the PTO to modernise and reform. It is crazy that it takes two years for an inventor to get an initial ruling on his or her patent application, and another year or more to receive a patent," he added.

Other important features of the legislation – previously known as S.23 – include precedence given to the first person or entity to file a patent in any dispute arising.

The Act also goes some way to tackling the issue of business method patents by creating a pilot programme to review the validity of business method patents.

Legal commentators have often blamed the proliferation of dubious business method patents for much of the backlog. Business method patents don't refer to a specific invention but a process. They are not granted in other jurisdictions, such as the UK.

The legislation will also formalise the USPTO's fast-track scheme by providing a 50 per cent reduction in application and search fees for small entities requesting accelerated patent examination.

The legislation has been welcomed by the USPTO.

After amendments were introduced to the legislation yesterday, commentators expect the bill to sail through the Senate vote and be ready for the President's signature soon.