Political Quotes

“I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter concerning section 18 of the America Invents Act, sent to me and others by the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, DC September 8, 2011. Hon. Jon Kyl U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. Hon. Charles E. Schumer, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. Hon. Patrick Leahy, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. Hon. Chuck Grassley, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. Dear Senators Kyl, Schumer, Leahy and Grassley: I am writing to discuss further the importance of the transitional program for business method patents as included in H.R. 1249, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. As you know, this provision enables the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (`USPTO') to correct egregious errors that were made in the granting of a wide range of business method patents. Business methods were generally not patentable in the United States before the late 1990s, and generally are not patentable elsewhere in the world. The Federal Circuit, however, created this new class of patents in its 1998 State Street decision. In its 2010 decision in Bilski v. Kappos, the U.S. Supreme Court clamped down on the patenting of business methods and other patents of poor quality. It is likely that many or most of the business method patents that were issued after State Street are now invalid under Bilski.…”