St. Clair Sounds Off on Patent Reform
Oct 25, 2011
What a charade. The 2011 patent reform act hobbles the patent laws of the most innovative country in the history of mankind to mimic that of a Europe having less than a third of the United States' patenting zeal. Why did we do this? We are told that the new law will spur innovation, but a system that once prized inventive horsepower will now give the race to those fleet of foot to the patent office. To speed patent prosecution? We now provide the perverse incentive to file early and often instead of taking a more prudent wait-and-see approach, so even more applications will float in an already overworked patent office. To "create jobs"? Hardly - - this legislation began when unemployment was 6 percent and Barack Obama was an Illinois state senator, so this latest "more jobs" justification is just Washington-speak promotional lipstick on a legislative pig.