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"Coalition for Patent Fairness" not playing fair with universities?

By Lawrence B. Ebert, Esq.

InsideHigherEd, in an article titled We?d Prefer to Speak for Ourselves, Thanks , notes that the Coalition for Patent Fairness has been a bit tricky in representing the viewpoints of higher education on patent reform. Specifically, the Coalition circulated an article with the headline ?University Concerns With S. 1145 Addressed by Bill as Reported by Committee? and indicated that the major objections of higher education groups ?have been appropriately addressed by the bill as reported by the Judiciary Committee.?

InsideHIgherEd reported that higher education groups, on learning of the tricky article, which was authored by no higher ed group, took action:

Higher education groups that work on patent issues immediately sprang into action, sending out alerts urging their members to ?contact their Senators as soon as possible and indicate that the [coalition?s] document does not accurately express the views? of universities, as an e-mail message distributed by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges put it. (...) ?CPF?s assertion is factually incorrect and misrepresents the position of the university community and individual institutions on patent reform legislation.?

John Vaughan of the AAU is quoted by InsiderHigherEd: ?a significant number of our concerns have been satisfactorily addressed, and we are hugely grateful for that. But more remains to be done,? on issues such as damages for patent violations and post-grant review, ?and we don?t appreciate somebody else suggesting otherwise.?

Full post as published by IPBiz on February 06, 2008 (boomark / email).