Zoe Lofgren: “Mr. Chairman, I doubt that I will use the entire 5 minutes. I just think it is important to point out a few things.…”

“Mr. Chairman, I doubt that I will use the entire 5 minutes. I just think it is important to point out a few things. There is an accuracy deficit here. Mr. Chairman, in the bill with the exemptions provided for in the manager's amendment, which I support, publication is at 18 months, and the inventor is protected from that time forward. So it is not as if we are asking people to publish their invention without protection. Mr. Chairman, I would like to complete my sentence. There has been a lot of discussion that the little guy will not be protected because he or she does not have access to the fancy lawyers and the legal system that is necessary to protect themselves. Let me point this out: If someone obtains a patent--they have an invention, they file for their patent and their patent is issued--that patent is only as good as their ability to enforce it. Enforcing the patent requires them to oftentimes come into contact with the legal profession and to actually expend fees in pursuit of protecting their patent. And I would point out that there are many lawyers, if they have a good case, who will take the case on a contingent fee if the patent holder is being attacked by a foreign corporation in a patent infringement action.”