Political Quotes

“I appreciate the hard work that has gone into the bill by the gentleman from Texas. However, I remain deeply concerned that the shift to first-to-file will have lasting negative consequences for small investors, and I urge the House to improve the bill by adopting the Sensenbrenner amendment. Madam Chair, following is my statement in its entirety: I rise in support of the Sensenbrenner amendment to strike Section 3 of the underlying legislation. Section 3 shifts our patent system from our unique First to Invent system to a First to File system. As I speak to inventors, startups, venture capitalists and angel investors in California, I am convinced that the proposed transition to First to File would be harmful to innovation and burdensome to the most dynamic and innovative sector of our economy. With the shift to First to File, the rush to the patent office will lead to new costs for small businesses as they prepare applications for inventions that they ultimately find impractical. The result will be more and lower quality patent applications, undermining the improved patent quality H.R. 1249 seeks to achieve. For small startups, the costs of retaining outside counsel for this purpose will be a drain on their limited resources, and it will mean less money for hiring and the actual act of invention. Supporters of First to File argue that it will increase certainty in the patent process, but I am skeptical that any such gains in efficiency will result.…”