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New Patent Law Reform Bill Introduced in the Senate

By Bruce M. Wexler and Jason T. Christiansen

Revised bipartisan legislation (available

) which would make major reform to the patent laws was introduced in the Senate on March 4, 2010 by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and cosponsored by Senators Jeff Session (R-Alabama), Chuck Schumer (D-New York), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), and Ted Kaufman (D-Delaware).

The bill contains a provision directed toward inequitable conduct reform the addition of a supplemental examination process. We understand that Senator Hatch has been a proponent of inequitable conduct reform. The supplemental examination process allows a patent owner to submit post-grant additional information (not limited to patents and printed publications) believed to be relevant to a patent and the PTO will consider whether that information raises a substantial new question of patentability warranting reexamination.