Zoe Lofgren: “I had to mention, I did mention last week a letter received by Charles Trimble, President and CEO of Trimble Navigation…”

“I had to mention, I did mention last week a letter received by Charles Trimble, President and CEO of Trimble Navigation, one of the premier firms in Silicon Valley. I just wanted to quote a couple of the things he said in his letter. He said, From our view inside the Global Positioning System Industry, we see no harm to our industry from H.R. 400 and I support this legislation. As an inventor, I obtained basic patents, not to make money but to ensure that no one else would stop me from using my own patent or innovation in commercializing the GPS technology. Another reason for obtaining patents is to facilitate the licensing of technology to a larger company. The real issue is not only inventing a technology but reducing it to practice, generating a commercial market and creating a legitimate business activity. This activity is a critical backbone of our economy. He goes on to say that keeping patents unpublished or submarining until there is an emerging commercial industry that can be held hostage to costly and unnecessary lawsuits is a serious competitive threat to U.S. industries.”