[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 91 (Thursday, June 23, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1190-E1191]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          AMERICA INVENTS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. MAZIE K. HIRONO

                               of hawaii

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 22, 2011

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 1249) to 
     amend title 35, United States Code, to provide for patent 
     reform:

  Ms. HIRONO. Madam Chair, I rise today in reluctant opposition to H.R. 
1249, the America Invents Act.
  In Hawaii, independent inventors and small businesses are at the 
forefront of the innovation that we need to strengthen our state's 
economic future. Year after year, small businesses have been 
responsible for the majority of net job growth nationwide. Congress 
must modernize and fully fund the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 
(PTO) to address the massive application backlog that stifles 
innovation and job creation.
  However, I have heard from independent inventors and small businesses 
in Hawaii who express grave concerns about H.R. 1249. This bill's shift 
to a ``first inventor to file'' system could create a ``race to file,'' 
allowing large corporations to use early and repeat filings to threaten 
independent inventors' and small businesses' rights.
  Further, to speed up patent processing and job creation, the PTO must 
be able to use inventors' application fees for their intended use: 
processing patents. The PTO receives no taxpayer money, and is funded 
entirely by fees. I voted against the manager's amendment that diverts 
these user fees to the vagaries of the annual congressional budget 
process.
  I also have concerns about Section 18 of the bill. This section 
establishes an administrative review process for financially related 
business method patents whose validity has been questioned. This review 
process is retroactive, and even previously awarded patents whose 
validity had been upheld by federal courts would be subject to 
challenge. This is unfair to inventors, who would have to defend 
themselves again for patents they have already been awarded and already 
defended in court.
  Innovation and technology development is essential to growing 
Hawaii's economy of the future. For this reason, I support patent 
reform but cannot support the bill before us today.

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