Tag Archives: Initiatives

Indiana Manufacturers send Patent Reform letter to President Obama

11 Wednesday Feb 2009

Posted by in Federal Initiatives, Patent

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Yesterday, over 130 US manufacturing companies sent a letter to President Obama detailing their serious concerns about the economic impact that enactment of patent reform legislation would have on the US economy.  Recognizing that the 111th Congress may be poised to revisit the patent law reforms that the 110th Congress previously abandoned in 2008, the manufacturers took this opportunity to tell the President their side of the patent reform story.  Among the manufacturers were the following four (4) Indiana companies:

Cummins Inc., Columbus, Indiana
DePuy Orthopedics, Warsaw, Indiana
Hill-Rom, Inc., Batesville, Indiana
Zimmer Inc., Warsaw, Indiana

Cummins Logo

DePuy logoZimmer Logo

The letter is a quick and interesting read (click image below for full text). The manufacturing companies emphasize that patent damages should not be reduced.  Rather, they stress that any legislation should be aimed at improving USPTO operations (currently, the patent application backlog is more than 700,000 and the average pendency is more than 32 months).  Taking a pretty obvious jab at the high-tech and financial services industries who aim to benefit from heavy patent reform, the manufacturers argue that “the prosperity of a few companies within two industries should not come at the expense of a larger group of stakeholders.”

I’ve listed below some of the main points that the manufacturing companies include to support their argument that drastic patent reform is unnecessary and perhaps dangerous to our economy:

  • “A recent study focusing on the impact of apportionment legislation estimates that this change alone would put at risk up to 298,000 manufacturing jobs and reduce R&D investment by up to $66 billion.  This would be a negative outcome even when our economy is strong; at a time of economic crisis, it would be tragic.” (Source: The Likely Adverse Effects of An Apportionment-Centric System of Patent Damages, Case Western Study)
  • “The legislation introduced in the 110th Congress dealt with patent issues on the back end rather than the front end, i.e., it attempted to deal with the symptoms of poor patent quality and growing pendency rather than addressing these issues directly. Many of the problems identified by legislative reform proponents as reasons for such reforms are best addressed instead by reforms of USPTO operations.”
  • “[T]here is no explosion in patent litigation.  In 1993, lawsuits were 1.45% of patents granted.  In 2007, lawsuits were 1.48% of patents granted.  The number fluctuates from year to year, but it has never indicated a system out of control.” (Source:  USPTO Annual Reports, Federal Judicial Statistics)
  • “Moreover, there is no explosion in patent damage awards.  Adjusting for inflation, the median annual patent damages award has actually dropped slightly over the last 13 years. In constant dollars, the median was $3.9 million from 1995 through 2000, and $3.8 million from 2001 through 2007.”  (Source: 2008 Patent Litigation Study, PriceWaterhouseCoopers)
Obama Manufacturer Letter

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Indiana’s Green Technology Future

03 Tuesday Feb 2009

Posted by in Tech Developments

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The United States overtook Germany as the biggest producer of wind power last year, and will likely take the lead in solar power this year.  U.S. wind power capacity surged 50 percent last year to 25 gigawatts – enough to power more than five million homes. “Governments must send a strong and unequivocal signal that the age of fossil fuels is over,” said Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Global Wind Energy Council.

This is great news for the U.S., but what does it mean for Indiana?  Is Indiana ready to jump into the green technology movement?  Can coal-dependent Indiana benefit from a shift to wind, solar or other green energy source?

Unfortunately, on wind power, the answer is probably no.  In order for an area to have suitable wind energy potential for wind turbine applications, it needs to have class 3 or greater annual average wind power.  Taking a look at a map of Indiana’s average wind power, it’s pretty apparent that, apart from Gary and areas bordering Lake Michigan, there just isn’t a lot of wind blowing here.  Class 1 and 2 wind power dominates the state map.

This doesn’t mean that technology won’t someday allow lower wind powers to be harnessed, but it does mean that current wind power providers are going to look outside Indiana for initial investment.  Indiana is not poised to be a breeding ground for new wind technology.

Notwithstanding wind power, Indiana does tout other renewable energy resources that can be tapped, such as clean, competitive, low-carbon energy, solar, biomass and geothermal energy.  The Green Jobs Development Act, comprised of two bills (Senate Bill 283 and House Bill 1349), is currently making its way through both Indiana legislative branches.  Listed below is a summary of the Act’s main points:

Click here for the full fact sheet, which additionally sets out how the Green Jobs Development Act will create new jobs and what happens with coal energy, on which Indiana is currently 96% dependent.  If you want to improve the chances of the Green Jobs Development Act being heard and passed, contact either (or both) of the Chairmen of the House Utilities and Senate Utilities Committees.  Email Chairman Win Moses (h81@in.gov) of the Indiana House about HB 1349 and Chairman James Merritt of the Indiana Senate (s31@in.gov) about SB 283.

Obama and Intellectual Property

26 Monday Jan 2009

Posted by in Copyright, Federal Initiatives, Patent, Trademark

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“Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let’s set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let’s recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let’s make college more affordable, and let’s invest in scientific research, and let’s lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America.” 

— Barack Obama

Whitehouse.gov lists some of the President’s new initiatives related to intellectual property and technology.  We’ll be tracking his administration’s performance on these initiatives over the next four (4) years:

  • Protect American Intellectual Property Abroad: Work to ensure intellectual property is protected in foreign markets, and promote greater cooperation on international standards that allow our technologies to compete everywhere.
  • Protect American Intellectual Property at Home: Update and reform our copyright and patent systems to promote civic discourse, innovation, and investment while ensuring that intellectual property owners are fairly treated.
  • Reform the Patent System: Ensure that our patent laws protect legitimate rights while not stifling innovation and collaboration. Give the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) the resources to improve patent quality and open up the patent process to citizen review to help foster an environment that encourages innovation. Reduce uncertainty and wasteful litigation that is currently a significant drag on innovation.
  • Promote American Businesses Abroad: Support a trade policy that ensures our goods and services are treated fairly in foreign markets. Fight for fair treatment of our companies abroad.
  • Invest in the Sciences: Double federal funding for basic research over ten years, changing the posture of our federal government to one that embraces science and technology.
  • Invest in University-Based Research: Expand research initiatives at American colleges and universities. Provide new research grants to the most outstanding early-career researchers in the country.
  • Make the R&D Tax Credit Permanent: Invest in a skilled research and development workforce and technology infrastructure. Make the Research and Development tax credit permanent so that firms can rely on it when making decisions to invest in domestic R&D over multi-year timeframes.
  • Ensure Competitive Markets: Foster a business and regulatory landscape in which entrepreneurs and small businesses can thrive, start-ups can launch, and all enterprises can compete effectively while investors and consumers are protected against bad actors that cross the line. Reinvigorate antitrust enforcement to ensure that capitalism works for consumers.