SB 2017-140: Patent Reform Act of 2017 (Passed) (user search)

There's a lot to untangle here, so first I'll list the problems with current patent law and then summarize the bill. Mr. Reactionary did most of the research and wrote most of the bill itself, for which I owe a debt of gratitude.

There are three major problems in patent law:

1. "Patent trolls" who buy up patents not intending to use them but specifically to file a bunch of vague cease-and-desist letters (which rarely identify the patents in question) and extort settlement money
2. "Evergreening" (existing patent holders continuously extend their patents through questionable means)
3. Overbroad patents (patents issued for obvious ideas or intangible processes, especially drug production)

How does this bill seek to address these problems, as well as others?

- Title I is essentially tort reform for patent suits. Requires disclosure of basic information in lawsuits, legal fees for frivolous lawsuits, protections for merchants who have no way of knowing what patents are in a finished product, and potential delays in imposing the discovery costs.

- Title II labels deceptive patent demand letters as unfair trade practice and empowers the FTC to assess complaints and penalize offenders.

- Title III bans paying off generic drug manufactures to not sell their products and denies patents on production methods for drugs (which can be granted separately from the drug product itself under current law). It also limits continuation applications.

- Title IV stops GMO manufacturers like Monsanto from going after small farmers whose crops might be pollinated or fertilized by patented chemicals that the wind carries over from other plants. Plaintiffs must present clear and convincing evidence to win the suit or pay legal fees.

- Title V protects software codes on the basis of the code itself rather than function. This is to prevent lawsuits like the one between Samsung and Apple a few years back, where one of them tried to argue that a patent on swiping to unlock their smartphones covers both the program and function, as well as any general process someone might come up with for unlocking a phone via touch screen, even if it's uniquely different code.

- Title VI is just to prevent pharma companies from trying to sue people who have DNA combinations, what with the BRCA breast cancer gene being patented.

- Title VII shortens time limits.

- Title VIII: this is Atlasia, we speak English.

And that's pretty much it. I'll be happy to answer any questions.

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