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Tag Archives: GATT

House Passes HR 6621, Spares Pre-GATT Patents

Posted by Courtenay Brinckerhoff on Posted in Patent Office Practice; Patent Reform

The U.S. House of Representatives passed an amended version of HR 6621 that does not includes the provisions that could have effectively eliminated the term of any pending patent applications that were filed before June 7, 1995 (“pre-GATT applications”). Instead, the bill requires the USPTO to submit a “report” on pre-GATT applications. (The bill still includes the troubling Patent Term Adjustment provisions that I wrote about in this article.)

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HR 6621 Would Torpedo Submarine Patents

Posted by Simon Elliott on Posted in Patent Office Practice

HR 6621 (introduced by Representative Lamar Smith on November 30, 2012) proposes several changes “[t]o correct and improve certain provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act,” but also includes provisions that would effectively eliminate the term of any pending patent applications that were filed before June 7, 1995 (“pre-GATT applications”). While pre-GATT applications present serious problems, the solution offered in HR 6621 raises its own issues. Rather than eviscerating the terms of pre-GATT patents, Congress should consider less drastic measures, such as compulsory publication and accelerated examination. Continue reading this entry