Judge Michel Tells Congress Patent Office Should Keep Fees, Provides Views from His Days on Bench
House Judiciary Committee Hears Patent Reform Testimony
The House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet, held a hearing entitled, “Crossing the Finish Line on Patent Reform – What Can and Should be Done”, on February 11, 2011. Former Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Paul Michel, testified on his own behalf. His written statement, published by the Committee, is worth reading for
a number of reasons, including Michel's historical account of the Patent Act and his views on changes in the complexity of the technology disclosed in patents during his tenure on the bench.
David Simon, Intel's Chief Patent Counsel, testified on behalf of the Coalition for Patent Fairness. Arguing that the Supreme Court's recent opinions had addressed most of CPA's concerns of the past, he asked the Committee to focus patent reform efforts on improving the Patent Office, and in particular the quality of patents being issued (see Simon's testimony here). CPA's specific recommendations include computerizing patent application examination, increasing the budget of the Patent Office's reexamination unit, improving prior user rights provisions of the statute, allowing the Patent Office to set fees and retain fees it generates, and providing post-grant oppositions.
Carl Horton, Chief Intellectual Property Counsel at General Electric, testified on behalf of the Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform.
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