Political Quotes

“I rise today to urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1249, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. Some other responsibilities may take me from the Senate floor during this coming week when we will be debating the act and therefore I wanted to lay out my views at this time, strongly urging my colleagues to support the bill. Although the present bill originates in the House of Representatives, it is actually based on and is substantially identical to the bill that passed the Senate in March by a vote of 95 to 5. Also, before Chairman Smith brought his bill to the House floor, he negotiated final changes to the bill with the lead supporters of the measure in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The House and Senate have now been working on patent reform for 6 years. The present bill is a good bill. It reflects a genuine compromise between the House and the Senate. It is a bill that will provide substantial benefits to the U.S. economy in the coming years, so I hope that, as I said, the Senate will adopt this legislation and be able to pass it on directly to the President for his signature. The overarching purpose and effect of the present bill is to create a patent system that is clearer, fairer, more transparent, and more objective. It is a system that will ultimately reduce litigation costs and reduce the need to hire patent lawyers.…”