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S.1145: "Not dead, but on ice"

By Lawrence B. Ebert, Esq.

A Reuters report on April 14 noted: "I wouldn't say the bill is dead, but let's say right now it's on ice," said one Democratic aide.

The report (by Diane Bartz and Tom Ferraro) suggested the opposition to S.1145 was partisan ("opposition mostly from Republicans"). The only hint of a jobs issue came in page 3 of the report:

"Most proposed changes would have been terrible, resulting in less innovation and economic growth and fewer jobs for American workers," Kieff wrote in an e-mail interview.

Not mentioned by Bartz and Ferraro is the fact that U.S. trade unions OPPOSE S.1145, and they have informed folks in Congress that they are making a list and checking it twice. This will result in opposition from Democrats. However, Barack Obama favors the patent reforms, as does his advisor on patent issues, Mark Lemley. Lemley in fact wrote a law review article in 2007, the research for which was paid for by Cisco, Microsoft, etc.

Full post as published by IPBiz on April 17, 2008 (boomark / email).