On the recordMarch 3, 2011
Thank you very much. So I have outlined the difficulty of proving copying under the first- to-file system. Disputes about who is the first to invent are resolved by the Patent Office in what is called an interference proceeding, which number only about 50 a year out of 480,000 patent applications. The opposition infers that this is a huge problem. Fifty a year out of 480,000 patent applications is a very small percentage. As I said in the beginning, America leads the world under the first- to-invent system. I don't think we should fix what isn't broken. This works for people who have great ideas but don't have money, who begin in a garage or in a lab. It has worked well for our system. I ask my colleagues to join Senator Risch, Majority Leader Reid, Senators Crapo, Boxer, Ensign, Begich, and myself in voting yes on this amendment. I yield the floor.
