The Only Specialized Global Intellectual Property News Agency
A Member of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Global

BSA Cheers Final Passage of Patent Reform

13-Sep-2011 | Source : | Visits : 9114
Washington, DC - After seven years of pressing for a modernization of the outdated US patent system, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) hailed in a press release the US Senate’s final passage of the America Invents Act (H.R. 1249).

“For a cutting-edge industry like software, operating under a 60-year-old patent system has sometimes felt like sailing with an anchor overboard. Today’s passage of the America Invents Act is like cutting the rope. It marks a momentous change that will help accelerate technology innovation,” said BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman.

“Software companies have been especially burdened with poor controls on patent quality and opportunistic litigation,” Holleyman said. “The new law will improve patent quality by permitting more efficient challenges to patents that lack merit. The law also builds on a series of recent court decisions on issues such as damages and injunctions to help discourage what had become a destructive cottage industry of opportunistic patent litigation. Finally, by adopting a first-inventor-to-file system, the new reform harmonizes US law with international standards, which is critical in an interconnected, global economy.”

“I congratulate Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Grassley and their counterparts in the House — Chairman Smith and Reps. Watt, Berman, and Goodlatte — for their tireless efforts in bringing this long-overdue reform to final fruition,” said Holleyman.

The Business Software Alliance is the leading global advocate for the software industry.
share



Related Articles