The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill Wednesday overhauling the nation’s patent system. The bill, the American Inventors Protection Act, H.R. 1907, passed 376-43. The legislation now goes to the Senate, where it’s still unclear if it will be introduced in its current incarnation.
The bill was pushed through after bill sponsors made last-minute revisions requested by Reps. Dan Burton, R-Ind., and Donald Manzullo, R-Ill. One of the most significant changes limits the “first to invent” defense in patent infringement disputes to inventions involving methods of doing business. The previous bill allowed the defense to be raised for manufacturing processes used in an invention as well as business methods.
