BIO has issued a strong letter of support for the Manager’s Amendment to H.R. 1249, the America Invents Act

by Stephanie D. Fischer

BIO has issued a strong letter of support for the Manager’s Amendment to H.R. 1249, the America Invents Act.  The letter is posted on our website and the text is below:

“On behalf of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), I am writing to express our strong support for your Manager’s Amendment to H.R. 1249, the America Invents Act. It is our strong desire to see this bill, as amended, passed by the House, and then we will work with you to ensure that any final product is perfected.

This legislation is similar to the bill adopted earlier this year by the U.S. Senate by a nearly unanimous vote, and we are pleased that the Manager’s Amendment to the bill has resolved many of the remaining concerns for the life sciences industry.

Your legislation will, once and for all, end the diversion of fees collected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), increase the objectivity of our patent system, and increase patent quality. It is precisely these types of reforms that should receive bipartisan support, as they are good for inventors and investors, hence good for business and jobs in America.

We thank you for all of your hard work to move the patent reform process forward in the House, and we look forward to working with you and the Senate to ensure that patent reform legislation is ultimately enacted into law this year.”

Earlier this week, BIO joined a broad coalition of organizations, universities, companies and other stakeholders to express strong support for Section 22 of the bill which would prevent future fee diversion:

“Although each of our organizations has varying views on the reforms contained in H.R. 1249, we unanimously support Section 22 and believe that it is the cornerstone of any patent reform legislation. Absent a statutory mechanism to prevent future fee diversion, as we have seen all too often in previous years, the existing and new responsibilities vested in the USPTO will suffer, the ability of the USPTO to plan long-term and build the agency our innovation economy demands will be frustrated, and the job-stifling patent application backlog will continue.”  This letter is available on our website.

Advertisement