WASHINGTON – Congress this week introduced into legislation The Patent Reform Act of 2007, a bill aimed at helping the filing process and to ease the financial burden to companies that infringe on existing patents.

The Senate bill is cosponsored by Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), while the House version is cosponsored by Howard Berman (D-CA) and Lamar Smith (R-TX).

The reform includes provisions to “balance” awards for damages, limiting them to only economic value of the improvement; establish fair standards for punitive damages; restrict forum shopping, and improve patent quality. In addition, the bill would create a “first-to-file” system (the American system is the only one in the world that still grants patents to the first inventor rather than the first to file an application); according to patentlyo.com, the bill makes it easier to file a patent application without the inventor's cooperation. Leahy says the bill creates a more streamlined and effective way of challenging the validity and enforceability of patents. He also claims, “American IP industries account for over half of all U.S. exports, represent 40 percent of our economic growth and employ 18 million Americans,” which makes strengthening intellectual property that much more important to economic growth.

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