Lamar Smith: “I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Chair, let me address some of the criticisms that have been made about the…”

“I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Chair, let me address some of the criticisms that have been made about the manager's amendment. There are some who want to make more changes to the business method patent provision in the bill. This topic is the primary reason the Judiciary Committee launched patent reform back in 2005. In response to a number of poor-quality, business-method patents issued over the past decade, the bill creates a transitional program within PTO to evaluate these patents using the best prior art available. Bad patents will be weeded out, but good ones will become gold-plated based on their enhanced legal integrity. There are others who have sought changes to the prior art provisions in the First-Inventor-to-File section. The language in our bill which replicates that in the Senate version has drawn support from a large cross-range of industries and investors. Some colleagues have complained during this debate about the treatment of PTO funding in the manager's amendment. The bill that the House Judiciary Committee reported would allow the PTO to keep all the revenue it raises without having to request funding through the normal appropriations process. This is treated as mandatory spending and scored savings in excess of $700 million.…”