Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., removed...

the current Congress. Senate Judiciary subsequently canceled a planned committee business meeting set for Thursday morning, at which an S-1720 markup had been the only planned agenda item. “There has been no agreement” after weeks of negotiations on a compromise manager’s amendment meant to address several controversial provisions sought in a final version of S-1720, Leahy said in a statement. “I have said all along that we needed broad bipartisan support to get a bill through the Senate,” he said. “Regrettably, competing companies on both sides of this issue refused to come to agreement on how to achieve that goal.” If stakeholders can craft a “more targeted agreement that focuses on the problem of patent trolls, there will be a path for passage this year and I will bring it immediately to the Committee,” Leahy said. The industry executive and a pro-revamp lobbyist had told us in separate interviews before Leahy’s announcement that there had been some movement in negotiations that signaled an increased likelihood of an S-1720 markup at the Thursday meeting. Pro-revamp industry groups expressed disappointment in Leahy’s decision, particularly given the House’s passage in December of the Innovation Act (HR-3309), which contained many of the provisions included in S-1720. CEA believes Leahy’s decision “makes this a day of celebration for patent trolls,” said CEA President Gary Shapiro in a statement. “We are profoundly disappointed the Senate has abdicated its responsibility to address the skyrocketing costs of patent abuse.” The bill’s removal is “a massive setback to the nationwide chorus of calls for reform after patent trolls expanded their targets in recent years to companies across a wide range of industries,” the Computer and Communications Industry Association said. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., should “stand with innovators and bring the House-passed Innovation Act to the floor of the Senate for an up or down vote,” said Internet Association President Michael Beckerman in a statement. ACT/The App Association believes “it is regrettable that the inability of Congress to advance widely supported legislation will expose many small companies to predatory litigation,” said President Jonathan Zuck in a statement. Engine Advocacy said it’s “hopeful that the Chairman means what he says and that he will work to pass much-needed legislation this year.” Charles Duan, Public Knowledge’s director-Patent Reform Project, said other House and Senate bills specifically target pre-litigation patent demand letter abuses, but those “cannot replace the comprehensive reform legislation that has now been withdrawn.” Leahy’s decision “shows pretty clearly that addressing these issues is more complicated than many may have thought,” said American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) President Todd Dickinson in a statement. AIPLA and Dickinson, former head of the Patent and Trademark Office, had been critical of some aspects of current patent revamp legislation. “More time and broader constituent input may make for even better legislation,” Dickinson said.