Last Wednesday, Michel followed up a Tuesday phone call with a letter to Shanna Winters, Senate Chief Counsel to the Subcommittee on The Courts, Internet and Intellectual Property. He also dashed a letter to Senators Leahy, Spector, and Hatch, much of it a repeat of his May 3rd letter. The gist: no need to change the law regarding interlocutory appeals, and the proposed revision to § 284, requiring apportionment of damages, would require "massive analysis."

Perhaps the Committee has been presented with empirical evidence showing that the current damages caselaw as applied regularly results in outlandish damage awards. I am not aware of any such empirical studies or evidence myself, although casual reading of news accounts does reveal anecdotal indications in a few cases.

Doubtful that the Senators know of any such "empirical evidence" that Michel himself would not have already poured over.