Key Votes
HR 1908 - Patent Reform Act of 2007 - Key Vote
National Key Votes
Thomas Holden Did Not Vote on this legislation.
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Stages
Family
Issues
Stage Details
Legislation - Placed on Calendar (Senate) - Sept. 11, 2007
Legislation - Bill Passed (House) (220-175) - Sept. 7, 2007 (Key vote)
Title: Patent Reform Act of 2007
Vote to pass a bill that changes the methods for obtaining and challenging patent claims.
- Prevents people from obtaining patents for claimed inventions that have already had patent applications filed by a different inventor (Sec. 3).
- Allows a patent to be disputed up to 12 months after its issue or its published application date and requires the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to approve settlement claims (Sec. 3).
- Permits a challenged patent owner to amend patent drawings, substitute the claim, or cancel the claim (Sec. 6).
- States that any person may submit with their patent record any existing patents, published patent applications, or other publications of relevance (Sec. 9).
- Requires the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to submit a report to Congress on the operation of prior use rights in other industrialized countries (Sec. 5).
- Authorizes the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to award damages of three times the regular amount if a person is found guilty of willful infringement by continuing to use a patented product or idea after receiving written notification from the current patent owner (Sec. 5).
- Requires a review of the effectiveness of the patent amendments set out in this bill to be submitted to Congress every seven years (Sec. 3).
NOTE: THIS IS A SUBSTITUTE BILL, MEANING THE LANGUAGE OF THE ORIGINAL BILL HAS BEEN REPLACED. THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE SUBSTITUTE BILL TEXT DIFFERS FROM THE PREVIOUS VERSION OF THE TEXT CAN VARY GREATLY.
Sponsors
- Howard L. Berman (CA - D) (Out Of Office)
Co-sponsors
- Spencer T. Bachus (AL - R)
- Frederick C. 'Rick' Boucher (VA - D) (Out Of Office)
- Chris Cannon (UT - R) (Out Of Office)
- John Howard Coble (NC - R)
- John Conyers Jr. (MI - D)
- Joseph 'Joe' Crowley (NY - D)
- Jo Ann S. Davis (VA - R) (Out Of Office)
- Rahm Emanuel (IL - D) (Out Of Office)
- Anna G. Eshoo (CA - D)
- Robert W. 'Bob' Goodlatte (VA - R)
- Darlene Hooley (OR - D) (Out Of Office)
- Darrell Issa (CA - R)
- Sheila Jackson Lee (TX - D)
- Zoe Lofgren (CA - D)
- James David 'Jim' Matheson (UT - D)
- James P. 'Jim' Moran Jr. (VA - D)
- William T. 'Bill' Sali (ID - R) (Out Of Office)
- Adam B. Schiff (CA - D)
- Michael K. 'Mike' Simpson (ID - R)
- Adam Smith (WA - D)
- Lamar S. Smith (TX - R)
- Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL - D)
- Robert Wexler (FL - D) (Out Of Office)