PATENT REFORM: Quick highlights from the Senate hearings.

The Senate Intellectual Property subcommittee held hearings on Monday, April 25, 2005 to discuss patent reform.  Some highlights:

• Jon Dudas, Director of the Patent Office believes in the goal of “educating the world on the importance of patents.”  I believe that a major part of this should be to restore the mystique of the American inventor/entrepreneur.
• On behalf of the AIPLA, Michael Kirk shot down BSA proposals to limit the availability of injunctive relief and the size of damage awards.  Kirk also mentioned that Congress should consider repealing 35 U.S.C. 271(f).
• David Simon from Intel promoted changes to the notion of when an injunction should be granted.  In his viewpoint, there should be “a return equitable principles to determine whether an injunction should be granted.”