[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 127 (Wednesday, September 19, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S6427]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    ANNIVERSARY OF ENACTMENT OF THE LEAHY-SMITH AMERICA INVENTS ACT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, Sunday marked the 1-year anniversary of the 
enactment of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. One year ago, I was 
pleased to stand on a stage at the Thomas Jefferson High School for 
Science and Technology in Virginia with House Judiciary Committee 
chairman Lamar Smith, Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 
David Kappos, Acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank, and others. 
Together, we watched President Obama sign into law the most important 
changes to our Nation's patent laws in 60 years.
  Many of the provisions of the legislation took effect on the 1-year 
anniversary, while other important changes, such as the shift to first-
inventor-to-file, will take effect in 6 months. I commend the Patent 
and Trademark Office, PTO, for the work they have done, in a 
transparent manner, to prepare for the new procedures that take effect 
this week.
  At its best, our patent system encourages exploration and invention, 
creating wealth, and providing jobs. Abraham Lincoln famously said that 
``the patent system added the fuel of interest to the fire of genius.'' 
But when patents are granted on unpatentable subject matter or on 
obvious creations already in use, they can be misused to stifle 
competition.
  The new patent law will aid the PTO in separating the wheat from the 
chaff, weeding out low-quality patents that infect our system, and 
bolstering those patents that truly advance ``the progress of science 
and useful arts.''
  While the changes made by the patent bill were sweeping, I am under 
no illusion that they solved all the problems that confront our patent 
system. The assertion of patents is too often still used by patent 
trolls to extract payment even where there is not infringement of a 
valid patent because the cost of litigation makes settlement more 
expedient, and the ``tech patent wars'' among the large mobile phone 
companies show the perils to competition that can come when companies 
do not reach business-to-business resolutions of their patent disputes. 
But the improvements made by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act will 
go a long way to making the system work better for inventors and 
implementers.
  Enactment of the patent bill was more than a victory for American 
inventors, large and small; it was a demonstration that Congress can 
still work in a bipartisan, bicameral matter. I stood proudly on the 
stage 1 year ago with a Republican chairman of the House Judiciary 
Committee, watching the President sign a law on which Chairman Smith 
and I had worked closely together for 6 years.
  The legislative success of the patent bill shows what we can achieve 
when we put aside rhetoric and, instead, negotiate and collaborate in 
good faith. We held countless bipartisan, bicameral meetings, 
briefings, and discussions with all interested parties. We worked 
closely with Director Kappos, then-Secretary of Commerce Locke, and 
Members of Democratic and Republican leadership in both the Senate and 
the House of Representatives.
  In short, the process that took the patent bill from the Congress to 
the President for his signature was one of which we can all be proud. 
In an increasingly partisan Congress, I was pleased to have the 
opportunity to lead a legislative process that was, from start to 
finish, both bipartisan and bicameral.

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