Despite Protests, U.S. House Passes Amended Patent Bill

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill amending U.S. patent laws, ignoring protests of some lawmakers that the measure would harm U.S. investors while helping Japanese manufacturers and other multinational companies steal American inventions.

In a surprising turnaround, critics of the bill pushed through an amendment that exempted small businesses, universities and independent inventors from provisions requiring that patent applications be made public after 18 months, regardless of whether the patent has been granted.

Supporters of the bill, which passed by voice vote, said it represented the most important changes since the current filing process for intellectual property began in 1836.

The bill would take the Patent and Trademark Office out of the Commerce Department and make it a wholly owned government corporation funded solely by patent fees. It also brings the United States in line with the European and Japanese practice of publication after 18 months. Currently, publication doesn’t come until the patent is issued, on average 20 to 22 months after filing.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), the most vociferous opponent of the bill, said the amendment exempting small-scale inventors was “the ultimate victory of the little guy over the big guy.”

The bill’s backers said that 18-month publication would make it easier for inventors to attract investors to market their products and stop the practice of “submarining,” in which people delay final action on their patent applications for years and then slap huge lawsuits on those who unwittingly come out with similar products.

But Rohrabacher argued that big U.S. and foreign corporations would use the early publication date to steal ideas from independent inventors. “I believe there are people who are out to destroy us economically,” he said, saying the original bill was a “monstrous threat to America’s prosperity and security.”

The chief sponsor of the bill, Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.), said the amendment, proposed by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), “weakens the bill . . . but the damage is not irreparable.” He said he was confident the Senate would restore the original language when it takes up the bill.