On the recordMarch 8, 2011
I thank my colleagues, Senator Leahy, who is the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and Senator Grassley, who is the ranking Republican, for including in the Patent Reform Act a provision that a number of us have been working on for several years to stop the granting of tax strategy patents. The key provision contains the text of legislation that Senators Baucus, Grassley and I, as well as others, introduced earlier this year, S. 139, the Equal Access to Tax Planning Act, to end the troubling practice of persons seeking patents for tax-avoidance strategies. Issuing such patents perverts the Tax Code by granting what some could see as a government imprimatur of approval for questionable or illegal tax strategies, while at the same time penalizing taxpayers seeking to use legitimate strategies. Since 1998, when Federal courts ruled that business practices were eligible for patent protection, the Patent and Trademark Office has issued more than 130 patents for tax strategies, with more than 150 applications pending. These patents are a terrible idea for two reasons. First, they may be providing unintended support for abusive tax shelters.
