Political Quotes

“I yield myself 3\1/2\ minutes. Madam Chair, I rise to urge adoption of the Baldwin-Sensenbrenner amendment that strikes section 5 in the America Invents Act. Section 5 expands the prior-user rights defense from its present narrow scope to broadly apply to all patents with minimal exceptions. As we work to rebuild our economy, Congress should be doing all that it can to foster small business innovation and investment. I believe that section 5 will do just the opposite. Expanding prior-user rights will be disastrous for small American innovators, as well as university researchers, and ultimately slow job creation. Despite current challenges, the U.S. patent system remains the envy of the world. Since the founding of our Nation, inventions have been awarded exclusive rights in exchange for public disclosure. This system also creates incentives for investing in new ideas, fostering new ways of thinking, and encouraging further advancement and disclosures. It promotes progress. If proponents of expanding prior-user rights have their way with this legislation, they will give new rights to those who have previously developed and used the same process or product even if they never publicly divulged their innovation and never even applied for a patent. It will transform our patent system from one that values transparency to one that rewards secrecy.…”