Patent Reform Legislation Continues to Percolate
The patent troll issue continues to be a problem for software and technology companies. This has not gone unnoticed by Congress, as key leaders in the House and Senate continue to push forward on legislation aimed at addressing this significant problem. Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) reaffirmed his support to champion bipartisan legislation in late April. And last week Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) introduced S. 866, a bill to expand the ability of businesses to initiate USPTO post-grant review of a patent in question when they are sued for infringement or charged with infringement of certain business method patents. This is the second major Senate proposal aimed at curtailing activities of patent trolls, as H.R. 845 (the “Shield Act”) was introduced by Sen. Peter Dafazio (D-OR) earlier in the year. It is expected that leadership in both House and Senate Judiciary Committees will release patent reform discussion draft legislation in the near future, perhaps as soon as Memorial Day. SIIA will continue to work closely with the respective committees throughout this process.
Comprehensive IP Reform Gets its Day in the Sun
As we reported in late March, U.S. Copyright head Maria Pallente sent shockwaves through the copyright world by suggesting that the Congress should embark upon comprehensive copyright reform. House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) endorsed the concept in a statement released in late April announcing a series of comprehensive hearings on the topic of copyright reform. The first of these hearings will take place this Thursday. Of course, we all know the word “comprehensive” doesn’t usually translate into “fast-moving” in Congress, and copyright policy has not been without significant controversy in the past year. So, suffice it to say, Thursday’s hearing should be viewed as the beginning of a long process that may or may not yield “comprehensive” reform any time this Congress, or the next one for that matter.
White House Promotes Open Data and Interoperability
The U.S. Federal Government, state and local governments, and governments around the world possess treasure troves of valuable data that have gone largely untapped for many years. More than ever before, citizens want access to government data, and they want it applied in innovative ways to which they are increasingly becoming accustomed. Last week, President Obama issued an Executive Order “Making Open and Machine Readable the New Default for Government Information” and an OMB Memorandum (M-13-13) updating the Digital Government Strategy. The updated policy seeks to further enhance the government’s open data initiative, making machine readable data the default for government data, while helping to establish a framework for effective information management at each stage of the information’s lifecycle to promote openness and interoperability. SIIA applauded the President for continuing to embrace open data policies, while also embracing policies that increase the use of data analytics to make strategic decisions. Read more on SIIA’s Digital Discourse Blog.
David LeDuc is Senior Director, Public Policy at SIIA. He focuses on e-commerce, privacy, cyber security, cloud computing, open standards, e-government and information policy. Follow the SIIA public policy team on Twitter at @SIIAPubPolicy.