[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 85 (Tuesday, June 14, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Page S3768]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          AMERICA INVENTS ACT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I was pleased that the Chamber of Commerce 
today wrote to Members of the House of Representatives in support of 
the America Invents Act. The Senate-passed companion legislation was 
approved in March in a 95-5 vote. This bill will create jobs and grow 
the economy without adding a penny to the deficit. Today's announcement 
by the Chamber of Commerce is a strong indication of a growing 
consensus that this legislation is what America needs to win the future 
through innovation. I applaud the work that Chairman Smith, Mr. Watt, 
and others have done to move the legislation forward in the House, and 
I encourage the full House to act swiftly.
  I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a full copy of 
the Chamber's letter.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                          Chamber of Commerce,

                                     United States of America,

                                    Washington, DC, June 14, 2011.
     To the Members of the U.S. House of Representatives:
       The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world's largest business 
     federation representing the interests of more than three 
     million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, 
     and region, supports H.R. 1249, the ``America Invents Act,'' 
     which would encourage innovation and bolster the U.S. 
     economy. The Chamber believes this legislation is crucial for 
     American economic growth, jobs, and the future of U.S. 
     competitiveness.
       A key component of H.R. 1249 is section 22, which would 
     ensure that fees collected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark 
     Office (PTO) fund the office and its administration of the 
     patent system. PTO faces significant challenges, including a 
     massive backlog of pending applications, and this backlog is 
     stifling domestic innovators. The fees that PTO collects to 
     review and approve patent application are supposed to be 
     dedicated to PTO operation. However, fee diversion by 
     Congress has hampered PTO's efforts to hire and retain a 
     sufficient number of qualified examiners and implement 
     technological improvements necessary to ensure expeditious 
     issuance of high quality patents. Providing PTO with full 
     access to the user fees it collects is an important first 
     step toward reducing the current backlog of 1.2 million 
     applications waiting for a final determination and pendency 
     time of 3 years, as well as to improve patent quality.
       In addition, the legislation would help ensure that the 
     U.S. remains at the forefront of innovation by enhancing the 
     PTO process and ensuring that all inventors secure the 
     exclusive right to their inventions and discoveries. The bill 
     shifts the U.S. to a first-inventor-to-file system that we 
     believe is both constitutional and wise, ending expensive 
     interference proceedings. H.R. 1249 also contains important 
     legal reforms that would help reduce unnecessary litigation 
     against American businesses and innovators. Among the bill's 
     provisions, Section 16 would put an end to frivolous false 
     patent marking cases, while still preserving the right of 
     those who suffered actual harm to bring actions. Section 5 
     would create a prior user right for those who first 
     commercially use inventions, protecting the rights of early 
     inventors and giving manufacturers a powerful incentive to 
     build new factories in the United States, while at the same 
     time fully protecting universities. Section 19 also restricts 
     joinder of defendants who have tenuous connections to the 
     underlying disputes in patent infringement suits. Section 18 
     of H.R. 1249 provides for a tailored pilot program which 
     would allow patent office experts to help the court review 
     the validity of certain business method patents using the 
     best available prior art as an alternative to costly 
     litigation.
       The Chamber strongly opposes any amendments to H.R. 1249 
     that would strike or weaken any of the important legal reform 
     measures in this legislation, including those found in 
     Sections 16, 5, 19 and 18. The Chamber supports H.R. 1249 and 
     urges the House to expeditiously approve this necessary 
     legislation.
           Sincerely,
                                                  R. Bruce Josten,
     Executive Vice President, Government Affairs.

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