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One issue in the original legislation that has led to some divisiveness among industries is the provision that would eliminate a patent holder's right to stop unlicensed groups from practicing his or her inventions, known as injunctive relief. Under current law, if someone is found to be infringing a valid and enforceable patent, the courts can issue an injunction to stop that individual from practicing that invention. The proposed provision would eliminate the injunction and instead put in place a system whereby the infringer would be forced to pay a compulsory licensing fee to continue practicing the invention. COURTESY OF SNELL & WILMER Hauff The proposal as laid out in Smith's original legislation was favored by software and information technology companies, which don't want their products held off the market because of potential patent infringement cases. Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, on the other hand, strongly oppose this change because these companies rely on the exclusivity rights that a patent affords as they work to develop and market new drugs. "We are carefully reviewing the legislation with an eye toward making sure that patent protection, which is so essential to the development of new medicines for patients, is not compromised," says Ken Johnson, senior vice president of Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America. "We oppose the proposed changes to injunctive standards for valid and infringed patents because they could compromise patent protection." |
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