Technology companies and trade groups rushed to praise patent reform legislation introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate March 3. One of the top items on the tech industry's agenda, patent reform has failed in the last two Congresses and opponents to reform from biotech companies to big pharmaceutical companies to small inventors are expected to again strongly challenge the legislation.

The bills would more narrowly define willful infringement, determine infringement damages in relation to the economic value of the patent's contribution to an overall product and create a post-grant review to challenge issued patents. The legislation also calls for a first-to-file system and grants broader rulemaking authority to the USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office).

"This bill will establish a more efficient and streamlined patent system that will improve patent quality and limit unnecessary and counterproductive litigation costs, while making sure no party's access to court is denied," Vermont Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy, bill sponsor and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement."Patent reform is ultimately about economic development. It is about jobs, it is about innovation and it is about consumers."

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, co-sponsored the bill with Leahy. Hatch said he hoped the third time would be the charm for patent reform.
 

Read the rest of this article on eWEEK.com.