Hill Hearing Touches on SCOTUS PTAB Decision

he respects the U.S. v. Arthrex ruling and has confidence the PTO and PTAB will carry out their duties for the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. The law shifted the U.S. from a first-to-invent system to a first-to-file system. Leahy said Congress must continue to address patent quality issues on the front end. A strong patent system that protects American inventions is critical to economic success, job creation and global competitiveness, said ranking member Thom Tillis, R-N.C. Tillis suggested Congress should consider creating a “gold-plated” patent with a more rigorous, more costly examination process to ensure patents are truly innovative and the innovation is “virtually impossible” to challenge. To improve patent quality, University of Utah law professor Jorge Contreras suggested Congress increase PTO “vigilance to detect potentially inoperable inventions,” heighten examination requirements, allow more public input and increase penalties for fraud. “Strong patents encourage and protect innovation, and are critical to our overall economy,” said Acushnet Company Vice President-Patents Troy Lester. “Overly broad patents, in contrast, are detrimental to U.S. manufacturing companies, often stifling innovation.” Instead of wasting “resources of our nation’s industries on low quality patents, we need to implement ways to improve patent quality on the front end,” said Cree Chief IP Counsel Julio Garceran.