A coalition of conservative groups are asking senators to swiftly pass two bipartisan bills meant to protect intellectual property rights and promote American innovation.
The 35 conservative groups are sending a letter to Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee chairman Chris Coons (D., Del.) and ranking member Thom Tillis (R., N.C.), both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urging the committee to pass bipartisan legislation meant to end abuses to the patent challenge system and clarify legal standards for patent claims, National Review has learned.
“This coalition letter is from center-right groups, but the issue of America’s innovation is bipartisan, as are these two pieces of legislation. To the Senate Judiciary Committee leadership’s credit, this presents a unique moment of two pro-patent bills going to markup — a welcome development for inventors’ and patent owners’ IP rights,” said James Edwards, executive director of Conservatives for Property Rights.
Edwards is one of the letter’s signatories, along with many other executives at free-market, innovation, and limited government organizations.
The two bills in question are Promoting and Respecting Economically Vital American Innovation Leadership (PREVAIL) Act and the Patent Eligibility Restoration (PERA) Act, two bills Coons and Tillis have introduced along with bipartisan House colleagues.
The PREVAIL Act would reform the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), a legal body used for patent litigation, to prevent excessive patent-related lawsuits and ensure the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is sufficiently funded. The bill contains provisions to require legal standing for patent challenges, prevent duplicative, excessive patent lawsuits, and clarify the legal standard the board uses to adjudicate patent disputes.
“These changes would protect patent owners from infringers’ ability to game the PTAB system through repeated challenges, even when a court of law has already upheld that patent’s validity, and inordinate PTAB discretion to tilt the process, the letter reads.
Critics have accused big technology companies of abusing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board system to their own benefit, to the detriment of small competitors and broader U.S. competition with China.
In the same vein, the PERA Act resolves the confusing and overly vague patent eligibility standards created by court rulings and various statutes. The legislation would reduce uncertainty for American innovators and business owners when developing new technologies in fields such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology.
“These two bills would bolster the reliability, certainty, and strength of American patents,” the letter concludes.
“They would clarify and refine elements of the patenting process, making it easier for legitimate patent claims to reach fruition and withstand what would become fairer, more consistent, impartial scrutiny once granted.”