[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 115 (Thursday, September 6, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




PROVIDING FOR APPEALS BY THIRD PARTIES IN CERTAIN PATENT REEXAMINATION 
                              PROCEEDINGS

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                               speech of

                         HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 5, 2001

  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, I support passage of this bill and would 
like to commend Chairman Coble and Ranking Member Berman for addressing 
this issue. The patent reexamination process, which lets parties 
challenge patents that the PTO already has issued, is subject to 
numerous procedural and arbitrary limits that inhibit its 
effectiveness.
  For example, section 315 of the patent law says third parties who 
file for a reexamination and then lose can file an administrative 
appeal but then cannot appeal that decision to the Federal Circuit. The 
law gives only a patent owner the right to appeal to the Federal 
courts. That provision contradicts the very purpose of reexamination--
if someone feels the PTO incorrectly rules on an issue of 
patentability, that party should have the right to an appeal.
  Fortunately, the legislation before us resolves this problem. It 
amends the law so that any party in reexamination--the patent owner or 
the third party--can appeal a decision of the PTO to the Federal 
Circuit. This legislation will go a long way to shoring up our patent 
system and has the support of numerous patent experts.

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