[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

                                 ______


                       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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