Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. It is widely recognized that patent litigation is too expensive, too time-consuming, and too unpredictable. H.R. 628 addresses these concerns by authorizing a pilot program in certain United States district courts to promote patent expertise among participating judges. The need for such a program becomes apparent when one considers that fewer than 1 percent of all the cases in United States district courts, on average, are patent cases and that a district court judge typically has a patent case proceed through trial once every 7 years. Nevertheless, these cases account for 10 percent of complex cases, and they require a disproportionate share of attention and judicial resources. Notwithstanding the investment of additional time and resources, the rate of reversal on claim construction issues--the correct interpretation of which is central to the proper resolution of these cases--is unacceptably high. The premise underlying H.R. 628 is, succinctly stated, practice makes perfect, or at least better. Judges who focus more attention on patent cases will be expected to be better prepared to make decisions that can withstand appellate scrutiny. The bill that we have before us today is the product of extensive oversight hearing that focused on proposals to improve patent litigation, which was conducted by the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property in October of 2005.…”