I don’t think any magic will happen just because the president has signed the first patent reform since 1952, but I’m hopeful that we’ll see some benefits. Patents will be processed more quickly, and that has to be a good thing. There will be less wasteful litigation. And maybe the president is right that buried in the 700,000 unprocessed patent applications will be “the next miracle drug, the next idea that will launch the next Fortune 500 company.” In any case, it proved that our government could do a significant reform that doesn’t obviously suck in the 112th Congress. It means that when historians call this the second Do-Nothing Congress it won’t actually be literally true.
Just so you know, the bill is the baby of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) who are the respective chairmen of two judiciary committees. They don’t agree on much, but they agreed on this. BIPARTISANSHIP!!
Most people will never know this happened, which is probably why is was possible for it to happen at all.
Yeah, I know, it’s not too sexy, but it let’s not ignore it when something decent actually happens.