Jim Sensenbrenner: “If the gentlewoman from Ohio will refresh her recollection, the WTO treaty was ratified by Congress. It was urged upon…”

“If the gentlewoman from Ohio will refresh her recollection, the WTO treaty was ratified by Congress. It was urged upon us and signed by President Clinton. I joined the gentlewoman from Ohio in opposing the WTO treaty when it came up in 1994 but we lost on that and the extension or the change in the patent term from the previous 17 years of the date of granting of the patent by the Patent Office was changed to 20 years from the date of filing. The gentlewoman and I voted against it but it is the law and we have to face up to the fact that the longer the PTO delays in issuing a patent, the less time of patent protection there is for an applicant for a patent who succeeds.”