Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., along with a number of bipartisan co-sponsors, launched a proposed major overhaul of U.S. patent law with the submission of identical bills in the House and Senate on April 17.
Many of the proposed changes in these Patent law reform bills evolved from numerous proposals and hearings in previous congresses. For the most part, these changes respond to widespread criticism of the patent system, most notably that resulting from studies of the U.S. patent system by the National Academy of Sciences and a combined study group of the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice.
