Jim Sensenbrenner: “S. 2192 will help to spur the development of new technologies by making it easier for collaborative inventors who…”

“S. 2192 will help to spur the development of new technologies by making it easier for collaborative inventors who represent more than one organization to obtain the protection of the U.S. patent system for their inventions. Members should note that the text of S. 2192 is identical to that of H.R. 2391, which received approximately 2 years of process. The House passed H.R. 2391 by voice vote on March 10 of this year. The bill achieves this goal by limiting the circumstances in which confidential information, which is voluntarily exchanged by individual research team members, may be asserted to bar the patenting of the team's new inventions. Today, industries that rely on intellectual property, like pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and nano-technology serve as key catalysts to the U.S. economy, employing tens of thousands of Americans. More often than not, the innovations they develop are not done solely by researchers 'in-house' but rather, in concert with other researchers who may be located at universities, non-profit institutions, or other private enterprises.”