Rep. Howard L. Berman is the California Democrat who took over from Rep. Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican. Berman has been a keen patent reform advocate, proposing bills since 2002. A spokesman from Smith's office said he'd be happy to ride shotgun on the legislation.

Patent reform is one of the least politicized issues, as least between political parties. The tug-of-war has always been between computer companies, which favor weak patents, having been periodically plastered through the years by non-corporate inventors, while strong patent protection is integral to profits for drug companies.

The FTC and National Academy of Sciences, having penned detailed analyses of their perspectives, will be represented at the hearing. Issues to be examined include the scope of claims for drugs and disease screening methods by the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, as well as how current patent law affords overbroad patents.

Another possible target for an oversight hearing is management of the USPTO. In a thinly veiled swipe, an IP Subcomittee document noted "recent complaints governing the quality of patents issued that may lead to infringement disputes and related litigation." Feeling the political heat, the allowance rate dropped precipitously last year, the agency already tightening up, but with buffonery - increasingly ridiculous rejections as examiners put the screws on, but face production pressure, hence leading to sloppy, hand-waving rejections. A growing backlog at the Patent Board of Appeals is inevitable.