Zoe Lofgren: “Under current law, if one publishes one's patent application in America before the patent is issued, one does not have…”

“Under current law, if one publishes one's patent application in America before the patent is issued, one does not have any protection. Under H.R. 400, provisional rights attach at the time of publication. So one is protected from the time of publication. Under current American law, it would be foolish indeed to put oneself out otherwise. Secondarily, I understand, and I believe, that the gentlewoman does not want to do damage to her country any more than I do. That is not what is at issue, as we both recognize. It is a difference of opinion over how to proceed, how best to protect our country's inventors. It is my judgment that the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by U.S. companies, and in some cases individuals, to submariners is indeed important. The cited number of 200 does not matter as much as the hundreds of millions of dollars.”