Patent Law Practice Center

Architect of America Invents Act announces retirement from House

Longtime Texas Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX), chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, & Technology, will be retiring from his duties on Capitol Hill and will not seek reelection for another term of service. Smith, a former Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and powerful member of the Republican leadership, will leave a void. His retirement marks the end of a 30-year tenure of public service and will immediately create a leadership void on the House committee responsible for overseeing our nation’s science and space policies.

Smith was first sworn into office at the U.S. House of Representatives in 1987 and has served the 21st congressional district of Texas, which includes areas of Austin and San Antonio and parts of the Texas Hill Country, since that time. During his time in Congress, Smith has been involved with the sponsorship of legislation related to technology including the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the STEM Education Act of 2014. Many readers of this blog will recall that Smith was an original co-sponsor to the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) of 2011, along with Democratic Representative Patrick Leahy (D-VT). That piece of legislation created the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), an Article I executive branch tribunal which is being challenged on constitutional grounds before the U.S. Supreme Court in Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC.

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Patent Reform: House Passes America Invents Act 304-117

The following post comes courtesy of Gene Quinn, of IPWatchdog and Practice Center Contributor.

At approximately 5:50pm [Thursday] the United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 1249, which is known as the America Invents Act, by a vote of 304-117.  This bill differs from the Senate version of patent reform, S. 23, so there will be no bill going to the desk of President Obama just yet.  There are important differences between the two bills, chief among them is funding for the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  The bill passed by the Senate put an end to the practice of fee diversion, which occurs when the Congress appropriates the USPTO less than they collect in fees.  The excess in the fees collected from users of the USPTO then go to the federal government as general revenues and are used for purposes other than the operation of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Indeed, now the fight will go back to the Senate where Senators will be asked to swallow the changes adopted by the House of Representatives, which seems unlikely.  Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX), who are the respective champions of the bills in the two chambers will likely want to find compromise language that can pass both the House and the Senate.  I have been told that a formal Conference on the bill is unlikely, which would mean that the Senate would need to hammer out language acceptable to the Senate while also being acceptable to the House.

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