As chief intellectual property counsel at the Senate Judiciary Committee, Aaron Cooper often finds himself in the center of the latest political discord in the digital world. Cooper, who joined the committee in 2006, is a top adviser to Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and spends his days pulling warring factions together on key legislation involving patent and copyright protection.
Case in point: the America Invents Act, the most comprehensive patent reform bill in 60 years, which President Barack Obama signed on September 16. The legislation, co-authored by Leahy and House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), changes the patent process from a “first to invent” to a “first to file” system. It also permits the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to access funds generated by its own fees in excess of its fiscal year appropriations from Congress.
