House OKs patent law overhaul

WASHINGTON — The House on Thursday voted to rewrite 60-year-old patent law to give inventors a better shot of obtaining patents in a timely manner and bringing the U.S. patent system in line with those of other industrialized nations.

The legislation also takes steps to help the underfunded U.S. Patent and Trademark Office deal with a backlog that forces inventors to wait three years to get a decision on patent applications and has generated 1.2 million pending applications.

The vote was 304-117, closer than the 95-5 vote by which a similar bill cleared the Senate in March. The two chambers still have to reconcile differences, but the bill has the advantage of being supported by the White House, major business groups, and leaders from both parties who have hailed it as a major jobs-creating measure.

House supporters had to overcome challenges from opponents who charged that the legislation violated the Constitution and would make it more difficult for the small-scale inventor to prevail in disputes with corporations.

There was also strong opposition to a provision that allows financial institutions to challenge patents issued on business methods, such as ways to process checks. An amendment to remove the section concerning the business method patents was defeated 262-158.

A key change brought about by the bill would put the U.S. under the same first-inventor-to-file system for patent applications used by Europe and Japan.

Currently the U.S. operates on a first-to-invent system that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, said is "outdated and dragged down by frivolous lawsuits."

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