URGENT ALERT!

Congress to vote on patent bill MONDAY

What is HR 2654?

According to Rep. Manzullo, this new bill is identical to HR 1907 without the Title that would change the way the US Patent and Trademark Office is structured. There is no way you or I could look at HR 2654 because it will not be on the internet so quickly.

Normally, only bills that are considered noncontroversial are voted on under suspension of the rules.*

Introducing a new patent bill on Friday afternoon and requesting that it be voted on in less one business day is an egregious abuse of power. Some form of patent legislation has been introduced in Congress for the last ten years and never passed because of the pressure exerted by the independent inventor and small business communities. One Congressional staffer I talked with was shocked that HR 2654 would be put on "suspension of the rules" and explained that the suspension motion is normally reserved for such bills as "naming bridges."

Rep. Manzullo is terribly concerned about this rush to vote and asks that inventors "light up the phones" on Monday morning. Time is of the essence. This is not the first time that the supporters of this patent legislation have attempted an end run away from the eyes of the public. Over the years it's been attached to a budget bill . . . it's been included in another good-sounding bill . . . it's been attached to an appropriations bill. Each time the power mongers have been stopped, and they must be stopped again. This proposed legislation has not been able to stand on its own because it is flawed -- terribly flawed.

I am disgusted at this manipulation of the system and implore you to call and fax and email your Congressmen and the Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, over the weekend and on Monday as early as you can! Phone calls and faxes are the best way to be heard; you cannot be ignored.

It is a very sad commentary that on August 2, the first working day of National Inventors' Month, the Congress of the U.S. will be asked to consider dramatic changes to U.S. patent laws under "suspension of the rules."

At the end of this message are the talking points I will use in my messages to Congress. Be sure to tell your Congressman that you are his or her constituent -- as a voter, you will be heard.

H.R. 2654 Talking Points

1) I am opposed to HR 2654 being put on the calendar under suspension of the rules which is normally reserved for noncontroversial issues. Changes to the U.S. patent system are extremely controversial and this "sneak attack" on the system is an egregious abuse of power.

2) How can such a vitally important piece of legislation radically changing 200 years of established patent laws and court decisions be presented to the House of Representatives less than 24 hours after introduction?

3) I have been told that HR 2654 is identical to HR 1907 without "Title VI: The Patent and Trademark Office Efficiency Act." I am unable to verify the contents of HR 2654 because it is unavailable to the American public because of such short time -- less than 24 hours -- between introduction and vote.

4) The Prior User Rights section of HR 2654 (called "First Inventor Defense") is totally unacceptable. This section elevates the rights the trade secret keeper of every "process or method" above the rights of the patent holder and dilutes the exclusive rights of the patent holder which are guaranteed in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution.

As defined in HR 1907/2654, "the term `process or method' means `process' as defined in section 100(b), and includes any invention that produces a useful end product or service which has been or could have been claimed in a patent in the form of a process." If this bill is passed, manufacturing processes, which are at the core of the vitality of the U.S. economy, will move from the public, open world of issued patents into the dark, covert world of trade secrets. Technological progress is advanced by the open disclosure of patented inventions, but it will be stifled and strangled because the Congress of the United States decided to encourage inventive people to keep their discoveries secret.

(NOTE: This point is very important because many Congressmen have been led to believe that this Title is limited ONLY to business processes and software patents which is absolutely not true!)

5) The changes made to HR 1907 have not made that bill or HR 2654 acceptable to America's independent inventor community, and this rush to vote has cemented my loss of faith in the integrity of the sponsors of HR 1907 and its stepchild, HR 2654.

* Motion To Suspend the Rules (FROM THE THOMAS SITE (http://thomas.loc.gov/):
On Monday and Tuesday of each week and during the last six days of a session, the Speaker may entertain a motion to suspend the rules of the House and pass a public bill or resolution. Members need to make arrangements in advance with the Speaker to be recognized to offer such a motion. The motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill is debatable for 40 minutes, one-half of the time in favor of the proposition and one-half in opposition. The motion may not be separately amended but may be amended in the form of a manager's amendment included in the motion when it is offered. Because the rules may be suspended and the bill passed only by affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members voting, a quorum being present, this procedure is usually used only for expedited consideration of relatively noncontroversial public measures.

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