Patent Law

Abandoning His Post

By Gary Odom and Jordan Kuhn

John Whealan, former solicitor of the USPTO, has been soliciting PTO-favorable legislation for the past year, "assisting" Sen. Leahy in bungling patent reform. In a signal of defeat for the bill, S. 1145, Whealan, who has been on leave from the PTO, is abandoning his temporary post with the Senate May 1. Self-absorbed, Leahy has called his efforts a waste of "thousands of hours."

Hal Wegner: "The fact that Whealan is leaving his Senate position, now, is a strong indicator that the legislation may be considered dead by its principal advocate: Otherwise, it is inconceivable that someone in such a sensitive and important position would leave with the task incomplete."

The Wall Street Journal today is rehashing old Patent Prospector news in sketching the demise of S. 1145.

Full post as published by The Patent Prospector on April 18, 2008 (boomark / email).