Patent reform bill passes out of committee

Leahy hailed the bill as a measure that will promote innovation, describing patents as crucial to job growth. 

“The Patent Reform Act will allow our inventors and innovators to flourish.  And it will do this without adding a penny to the deficit.  I hope that the Senate will act quickly, so that we can win the future by unleashing the American inventive spirit,” he said. Hatch said it is the first major overhaul of the patent system in six decades. 

The bill has come under some scrutiny from conservative groups who say it removes important incentives for innovation. “The proposed reforms really benefit large, established corporate market players at the expense of U.S. economic growth. Start-up companies drive innovation and job creation,” more than 20 groups said in a letter the Congress this week. 

They said the bill makes it easier to fight and infringe patents, making it more expensive to defend an invention and adding new risks for venture capitalists as they consider funding new ideas.