Lamar Smith: “The Conyers amendment to tie the changes proposed in the America Invents Act to future changes that would be made in…”

“The Conyers amendment to tie the changes proposed in the America Invents Act to future changes that would be made in foreign law is unworkable. I oppose providing a trigger in U.S. law that leaves our patent system at the mercy of actions to be taken at a future date by the Chinese, Russians, French, or any other country. It is our constitutional duty to write the laws for this great land. We cannot delegate that responsibility to the whims of foreign powers. I know that this idea has been floated in the past, but after working on several pieces of patent legislation over the past several Congresses, and particularly this year on H.R. 1249, it has become clear that this type of trigger idea is simply not workable and is counterproductive. The move to a first-inventor-to-file system creates a more efficient and reliable patent system that benefits all inventors, including independent inventors. The bill provides a more transparent and certain grace period, a key feature of U.S. law, and a more definite filing date that enables inventors to promote, fund, and market their technology, while making them less vulnerable to costly patent challenges that disadvantage independent inventors. Under first-inventor-to-file, an inventor submits an application to the Patent Office that describes their invention and how to make it. That, along with a $110 fee, gets them a provisional application and preserves their filing date.…”