Political Quotes

“Reclaiming my time, I would point out to the gentleman that there is a provision in the bill already that preserves the right of anybody to withdraw their patent application prior to the 18-month publication date and preserve their right to go the trade secret route. The problem we have here is there is an inherent difference between trade secrets and patents. Trade secrets are protected by keeping them secret. The formula for Coca-Cola, that is not patented, that is a recipe. They keep it locked up in a safe. On the other hand, if you want to protect something by use of the patent system, the way we do that is the U.S. Government tells the whole world that that individual is the first person to come forward with that patent and they have that protection and that right, and all publication does is give them that right sooner. It does not in any way harm them or take away that right. If they want to go the trade secret route, they can still do it by withdrawing that application. I would also point out that the average patent in this country takes 19 months, 1 month longer than the 18-month provision. So the fact of the matter is that we are doing very little to harm people and in fact publication is a positive thing.”