Major Patent Overhaul Passes House

Press Release

Michaud praises bipartisan bill to boost the economy and create jobs

Today, Congressman Mike Michaud voted in favor of H.R. 1249, the America Invents Act, which passed the House today with broad bipartisan support. The Senate passed its version of the bill (S. 23) on March 8th by a vote of 95 to 5.

"A well functioning patent system is critical to American innovation and manufacturing, and I am pleased that Republicans and Democrats came together to pass this reform bill," said Michaud. "This bill is critical to our nation's ability to recover from the economic downturn and create jobs, since three or four jobs are created for every patent awarded. This comes at an especially important time as we face a national unemployment rate that remains above nine percent and is even higher in some parts of Maine."

In 2007, Michaud led the opposition to a version of the bill that would have reduced patent infringement damages and would have provided infringers multiple opportunities to challenge the validity of an infringed patent. Over the last four years, Michaud has worked to eliminate those provisions in order to protect American manufacturing and foster innovation.

"We need to make it easier for companies to innovate and make things here at home, and this bill does that," said Michaud. "Although I was disappointed that the bill did not improve the funding structure for the Patent and Trademark Office, I am pleased that provisions were added to make it better for U.S. manufacturing. This bill shows how effective Congress can be when both sides of the aisle work together. I look forward to working in a bipartisan fashion with my colleagues to further advance U.S. manufacturing and see this bill through the conference process with the Senate."

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