ITI HAILS HOUSE PASSAGE OF PATENT REFORM LEGISLATION 

09.07.2007

Strong Margin in House Builds Critical Momentum for Senate Consideration

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) President Rhett Dawson hailed passage HR 1908, the “Patent Reform Act of 2007,” in the U.S. House of Representatives as a “critical hurdle” in the high tech industry’s effort to restore balance and fairness to the current patent system. 

The House passed the legislation by a 225-175 margin.  The Senate is expected to consider similar legislation this Fall.

“Today’s bipartisan House vote represents six years of work dedicated to modernizing the U.S. patent system,” Dawson said.  “The Patent Reform Act is the product of more than 20 hearings and 150 stakeholder meetings to accommodate a wide range of issues and concerns from all parties.  We applaud the House for recognizing that, after years of debate and consensus-building, the time for action had arrived.  We hope that the Senate will move forward immediately in the same fashion.”

“Speaker Pelosi has demonstrated enormous leadership and commitment to patent reform as a key element of her ‘New Direction for American Innovation.’  Judiciary IP Subcommittee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA), IP Subcommittee Ranking Member Howard Coble (R-NC), Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-TX) must also be recognized for their hard work and dedication to a bill that will spur greater innovation, job growth and competition.”

Dawson added, “Information technology leads the innovation economy and ITI’s membership includes seven of the top ten U.S. patent recipients of 2006, but there is widespread agreement the current patent system is broken.  Patents are intended to encourage and protect innovation, but problems with low quality patents and an increase in abusive patent litigation practices are negatively impacting the ability of our member companies to innovate. As a result, U.S. companies can face greater business uncertainty and economic risk compared to their foreign competitors and will be further harmed if the current system is not reformed.”

ABOUT ITI

The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) represents the nation’s leading high-tech companies and is widely recognized as the tech industry's most effective lobbying organization in Washington.  ITI helps member companies achieve their policy objectives through building relationships with Members of Congress, Administration officials, and foreign governments; organizing industry-wide consensus on policy issues; and working to enact tech-friendly government policies.

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