Political Quotes

“this is about submarine patenting, and lest anyone be confused, a submarine patent is an application made by somebody who does not really want a quick and speedy issuance or grant of a patent. He wants to keep his application alive below the surface, hoping that somebody else will come along and start marketing, start manufacturing, start using an idea which is a part of his application. Then he surfaces suddenly, periscope up, and sues. That may sound convoluted, but there are people making millions and millions of dollars, and the only way to effectively dispel that gaming of the system is to expose the applicant to publication after a reasonable length of time. Eighteen months has been determined by the world and us to be a reasonable length of time. The gentleman from California [Mr. Rohrabacher], claims that his substitute effectively dispels the submarine problem. That is, forgive me, nonsense. Here is how he dispels the submarine problem. His amendment provides for publication no sooner than 5 years after the filing date, but not even then, if the submariner files an appeal, which may or may not be legitimate. That is a way to stretch this thing out. So under his curative amendment, submarines must surface after 5 years. That is a lifetime in the computer business. That is a lifetime in the pharmaceutical business. That is a lifetime in the biotech industry. It is just no cure.…”