[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 97 (Friday, July 22, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: July 22, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
PATENT SYSTEM UNDER ATTACK
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HON. HELEN DELICH BENTLEY
of maryland
in the house of representatives
Friday, July 22, 1994
Mrs. BENTLEY. Mr. Speaker, inventors across the country are concerned
about the proposed changes to the patent system which go beyond the
General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade [GATT] terms and are being
proposed by the administration. The cry to defend our patent system
from these changes has erupted from a cross section of inventors.
Included in the signers of the letter are 15 inductees into the
National Inventors Hall of Fame and two Nobel Laureates.
The letter written to President Clinton by Paul Heckel, for
Intellectual Property Creators and the investors who signed this letter
expresses the genuine concern about these changes.
Intellectual Property Creators,
Los Altos, CA, July 18, 1994.
Re an open letter to President Clinton from America's
inventors.
Hon. William Jefferson Clinton,
The White House,
Washington, DC.
Dear President Clinton: We represent a cross section of
inventors who have developed inventions ranging from simple
consumer products to breakthrough technologies all of which
have contributed to our country's economic growth, standard
of living, health, and technological leadership. Most of us
are not only inventors but technology entrepreneurs. We share
your concerns about the growth of the U.S. economy and your
vision for America's continued greatness, but we are
concerned about unnecessary changes being proposed to the
patent laws in the GATT enabling legislation.
The U.S. patent system was established in the Constitution
by our founding fathers. It is a unique and crucial part of
our free enterprise system. It has made the U.S. the world
leader, not just in pioneering new product concepts and
technologies, but bringing them to market. It is not a
coincidence that some of those who framed our form of
government were inventors; Benjamin Franklin, a founder of
the science of electricity, invented bifocals and the
Franklin stove. Thomas Jefferson, the first Patent
Commissioner, invented a cryptographic system that was used
by the United States during World War II. Lincoln, the only
president to be issued a patent, a patent litigator, and a
technology president who promoted several new technologies
into use in the civil war, declared ``patents added the fuel
of interest to the fire of genius.''
Nobel Laureate Robert Solow estimated that 90% of the U.S.
economic growth is the result of technological advances.
Whole industries have sprung up from the inventions of
Edison, Bell, and the Wright brothers. A review of the
signatories of this letter demonstrate that today inventors
are still creating new companies and new industries. U.S.
technological leadership is based on American inventors'
willingness to challenge the conventional wisdom and our
patent system which supports them in that effort. The loss of
the vitality of our patent system will threaten our
technological leadership.
It is the people of the U.S. who benefit from the high
growth, high paying industries which are created by inventors
and technology entrepreneurs.
We understand that the enabling legislation for the General
Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) includes administration
language that would change the present patent term from 17
years from the date of issuance to 20 years from the date of
filing. While most patents take 2 or 3 years to issue,
important patents, especially those in new technologies, take
longer--often a decade or more. One of Gordon Gould's laser
patents took 29 years to issue. The proposed change would
start the clock ticking before the patent issues, thus
encouraging delaying tactics by those who don't want the
patent to issue, penalizing inventors for patent office
delay, and significantly reducing the worth of the patent and
the incentive to invest in developing the invention.
The patent system, like the First Amendment, is a critical
element of the Constitution, designed to protect and
encourage those who advocate change. The proposed
modifications to the patent law appear to have been inserted
in response to requests from those threatened by
technological change they can't control.
President Clinton, you yourself understand the difficulty
innovators face. Indeed, you quoted Machiavelli on the
subject:
``There is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more
doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to
initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies
in all those who profit from the old order and only lukewarm
defenders in those who would profit by the new order. . .
.''
The proposed patent changes would rob the U.S. of its
technological leadership by tilting the playing field even
more against pioneers and in favor of the copiers.
It is crucial that any proposed patent law changes be in a
separate bill, apart from GATT. Such proposals should be
voted on ONLY after OPEN Congressional hearings. Congress
should have the benefit of testimony from not just patent
lawyers but inventors--especially those who have founded
companies based on their inventions. If Congress is to change
the patent laws, it must understand how the patent system
works from the perspective of not just big companies and
patent lawyers, but from inventors such as us.
Passing GATT requires a minimal change to the current
patent system. GATT makes no reference to filing or issuance
dates. The U.S. patent system would comply with GATT by
making the patent term expire 20 years from issue. We
adamantly oppose any part of the proposed ``TRIPS''
legislation that is not absolutely required by GATT. We urge
you to ask Congress to hold hearings on any on how to
strengthen the patent system.
Sincerely yours,
Paul Heckel,
For Intellectual Property Creators
and the inventors listed below.
Members of the National Inventors Hall of Fame and some of
their inventions:
Dr. Frank Colton, Enovid, The first oral contraceptive
Raymond Damadian, M.D., The Magnetic resonance imaging
scanner
Gertrude B. Elion, D.Sc., leukemia-fighting & transplant
rejection drugs, Nobel Laureate
Dr. Jay Forester, Random access computer core memory
Gordon Gould, Optically pumped laser amplifiers
Dr. Wilson Greatbatch, The cardiac pacemaker
Leonard Greene, Aircraft stall warning device
Dr. Robert Hall, Hight-voltage, high-power semiconductor
rectifiers
Dr. William Hanford, Polyurethane
Dr. James Hillier, Electron Lens Correction Device
Jack Kilby, Monolithic integrated circuit
Robert Ledey, M.D. The full body cat scanner
Dr. Irving Millman, Hepatitis B vaccine & test to detect
hepatitis B
John Parsons, Numerically controlled machine tools
Dr. Robert Rines, High resolution image scanning radar,
internal organ imaging
Members of the American Collage of Physician Inventors:
Dr. Arnold Heyman, Bard/Heyman urethral instrument system
Dr. Charles Klieman, Surgical Staplers
Dr. Robert Markison Sailboard hand rip for windesurfing and
surgical instruments
Dr. Lloyd Marks, Cardiac patient monitoring detector
Dr. Leo Rubin, Implantable defibrillator combined with a
pacemaker
Other Inventors:
Ron Ace, Lightweight photochromic eyeglass lenses
Dr. Sail Aisenberg, Ion assisted deposition of diamond-like
thin films
Dr. Paul Burstein, Rocket motor inspection system
Tom Cannon, Computer kiosk for selecting and printing
greeting cards
Charles Fletcher, The Hovercraft
Dr. Richard Fuisz, Rapidly dissoluble medicinal dosage unit
Elon Gasper, Speech synthesis with synchronous animation
Charles Hall, Waterbed
Paul Heckel, Card and rack computer metaphor
Dr. A Zeer Hed, Freeze ablation catheter
Anthony Hodges, RSI preventing computer keyboard
Walter Judah, Ion exchange membrane
Ron Lesea, Telecommunications equipment had electronic
ballasts
Michael Levine, Magistat thermostat, One screen programming
used in VCR Plus
Lawrence B. Lockwood, Interactive multimedia informative
system
Wallace London, Clothes hanger lock for suitcases, (London v.
Carson Pirie Scott)
Edward Lowe, Kitty Litter
Cordell Lundahl, Stakhand Hay Handler and other Farm
Machinery
Paul MacCready, The Gossamer Condor and Gossamer Albatross
airplanes
Jacob Malta, Musical bells (Malta v. Schulmerich)
George Margolin, Microfiche readers, folding pocket
calculators
Stan Mason, Shaped disposable diapers, microwave cookware,
granola bar
Kary Mullis, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Nobel Laureate
Tod Nesler, Non-fogging goggles for sport and the military
John Paul, Electronic ballasts
Rob Polata, Composite masking for high frequency
semiconductor devices
Dr. Richard Pavelle, Method for increasing catalytic
efficiency
Peter Theis, Automated voice processing
Coye Vincent, Ultrasonic Bond Meter
Paul Wolstenholme, Self erecting grain storage system
The Intellectual Property Creators Coalition:
ALPHA Software Patentholders, Paul Heckel President
American College of Physician Inventors, Dr. Klieman,
President
Donald Banner, Patent Commissioner under President Carter
The Inventors Voice, Steve Gnass, President
National Congress of Inventors Organizations, Cordell Lundahl
President
United Inventors Association of the USA, Dr. Jenny Servo
President
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