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July 23, 2007
Silk Purse from a Sow's Ear
The
Patent Reform Act of 2007 is hopefully too wretched and controversial to become
law, but it has laid out a trough for the swine known collectively as the
Congress of the United States. As one onlooker observed, "The controversy certainly is
a good income stream for the politicians." Invitations are flowing to interested
parties to attend breakfasts and receptions at $1,000 on up, for the chance to
hobnob for a moment with an esteemed Senator or Congressperson, mouthing
patent-reform-this or patent-reform-that to a pair of deaf ears attached to a fattening
piggy bank.
The cynical view is that the push for the Patent Reform Act of 2007 is nothing more than a hustle, a foredoomed rainmaking dance. Sen. Hatch has already acknowledged that the Act is a train running to be derailed. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and House Judiciary Howard Berman (D-Calif.), have been pushing hard; it makes one ponder how well their tills are filling for all the lobbying.
Posted by Patent Hawk at July 23, 2007 2:44 PM | The Patent System