Coalition Urges Enactment of Patent Reform Legislation to Drive Job Growth and Innovation

Coalition Urges Enactment of Patent Reform Legislation to Drive Job Growth and Innovation (March 24, 2011)
BIO joined with 97 other manufacturers, scientists, researchers, academic institutions, and businesses to urge the U.S. House of Representatives to enact patent reform into law in order to strengthen our country’s patent system which will help get breakthrough products to market faster, maximizing our opportunities for job growth.
Read the letter (120 KB PDF)

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BIO Hails Senate Passage of America Invents Act

BIO Hails Senate Passage of America Invents Act

Bipartisan, consensus-oriented approach will strengthen nation’s patent system and spur innovation, job creation

Washington, D.C. (March 8, 2011) – Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) President and CEO Jim Greenwood released the following statement on the passage today of the America Invents Act (S. 23) by the U.S. Senate:

“BIO commends the Senate for its overwhelming passage of the America Invents Act by a vote of 95-5.  We appreciate the dedication of Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA) and the bill’s other cosponsors for their tireless efforts to build bipartisan consensus on the legislation.  Once enacted into law, it will strengthen and improve our nation’s patent system, spurring innovation and job creation.

“Patents are often the main assets of small biotech companies, and they rely on this intellectual property to attract investors to fund the lengthy and expensive research and development process necessary to bring breakthrough new therapies and other biotech products to patients and consumers.

“The improvements made by the America Invents Act would benefit all sectors of the U.S. economy by enhancing patent quality and the efficiency, objectivity, predictability, and transparency of the patent system. 

“BIO encourages the House of Representatives to consider patent reform without delay, and we look forward to working with Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) and the members of the House Committee on the Judiciary.  We are committed to ensuring that patent reform legislation preserves and enhances the incentives necessary to sustain our nation’s global leadership in biotechnology innovation and to spur the creation of high-wage, high-value jobs throughout the country.”

Senator Leahy’s remarks on Senate Judiciary’s Innovation Agenda

Here are remarks Senator Leahy made at the Newseum yesterday regarding the Senate Judiciary’s agenda for the 112th Congress.  I have inserted below his comments on promoting innovation and creating jobs. 

Promoting Innovation and Creating Jobs

While we continue our work to protect the taxpayers’ dollars, we must also focus on protecting American jobs.  Last year, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously supported bipartisan efforts to stop online criminals from stealing our Nation’s intellectual property.  Online infringement costs our national economy billions of dollars every year.  Our intellectual property-based businesses are among the most productive in our economy and among its best employers.  We cannot stand by and see them ravaged, and American consumers subjected to counterfeits.  We will renew our effort this year.

Among our top priorities is the Patent Reform Act.  This bipartisan initiative to modernize our patent system has received considerable attention in the last several Congresses.  Updating our antiquated patent system will keep America at the forefront of innovation and invention.  It will help bolster our economy and protect jobs.  And it will do so without adding a penny to the Nation’s deficit.  I am encouraged that Chairman Lamar Smith of the House Judiciary Committee agrees that patent reform is sorely needed.  In the interest of protecting American jobs and economic leadership, Democrats and Republicans need to complete this important legislative effort.

Another area in which Senator Grassley and I have worked together over the years has been in confronting anti-competitive business conduct, especially in agriculture.  In the last two years, the Justice Department has become more aggressive in protecting competition.  The competition workshops held across the country jointly by the Justice and Agriculture Departments were a start, and the steps taken by the Antitrust Division have been good.  Now we hope to build on that as we confront overconcentration in agricultural businesses.  

I also hope Congress will finally repeal the health insurance industry’s exemption from our antitrust laws.  There was bipartisan support for this repeal in the last Congress.  There is no place in our health insurance market for anticompetitive abuses, and repealing this exemption is an important step toward bringing competition to the health insurance market.

There are many other ways in which the Judiciary Committee can contribute to our economic recovery and the expansion of American jobs.  We can strengthen programs like the EB-5 Regional Center Investment Program, which encourages foreign investment and spurs job creation in our state and local economies.  Senator Grassley and I are both acutely aware of the unique challenges facing the agriculture industry, and I believe the Judiciary Committee should take a close look at how we can move forward with important immigration proposals like AgJOBS, and ways to improve visa programs like the H-2A program so that important agricultural industries such as the dairy industry have access to a lawful workforce.  

There are encouraging economic signs, but our national economy is still recovering with too many people still out of work.  In the interest of American workers, Democrats and Republicans need to work together on these measures that buttress key pillars of the American economy.

Innovation Alliance Event “Patents, Innovation and Job Creation: A Virtuous Circle”

An event is coming up on patents, innovation and job creation at the Newseum on Friday January 21.  The keynote speakers are  PTO Director David Kappos and Retired Chief Judge of the Federal Circuit Paul Michel. 

Other industry experts and executives will participate in panel discussions.  Below is the news release.

As the U.S. economy struggles with high unemployment, the Innovation Alliance hosts a half-day discussion with inventors, entrepreneurs, business leaders, and industry experts on the economic value of patents and a vigorous USPTO. The conference features remarks from David Kappos, Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and Paul Michel, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Retired Chief Judge. Gene Quinn, founder of IPWatchdog, Inc and Kim Hart, reporter at Politico will moderate morning panels on creating jobs and the impact of patents on the modern innovation economy. Email Innovation Alliance to RSVP

Here is the advertisement with further details.