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SPEAKOUT: Patent reform will aid innovation

By Chris Christopher

Published March 7, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Colorado's DaVinci Institute in Louisville celebrates the inspiration of human achievement with its "Museum of Future Inventions." Here people of all ages can get a glimpse of the technological possibilities we can expect in the not-so-distant future while Colorado's next generation of innovators can come and be inspired to create the next space shuttle, artificial heart or media player.

However, what kind of legal and regulatory environment will these future innovators face when they are prepared to make their contributions to society? Unfortunately, our current patent system is more likely to discourage them than inspire. Our current system - which has not been updated since 1952 - is simply not up to the task of overseeing our patent needs in the 21st century. Inequities in the current system allow for poor patent quality and encourage "gaming" the legal system in order for some to reap profits while stifling those who wish to create.

And Colorado's economy may be a victim. According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark office, Colorado ranked 13th in the nation for total patents granted during 2006, with, 2,118. Colorado mostly trailed states with much larger populations such as California, New York and Texas.

Colorado is one of the most innovative states in the country due in large part to the innovative companies located here. These companies and innovators face undue burdens that might derail real accomplishments because of our current patent system.

Hewlett-Packard is one of these companies. We have been operating in Colorado since 1960, when we established our first U.S. manufacturing plant outside of Palo Alto, Calif., in Loveland. Our operations in Colorado have included workstations, cameras, scanners, photo printers, digital publishing, management software and key technology components such as operating systems, microprocessors and hardware.

Since 2001, HP has been granted nearly 1,800 patents that originated from work done here in Colorado alone. Just last year our Colorado facilities produced 378 patents, mostly in the areas of computers and software. California, where HP is headquartered, is the only state in the country where more of our patents originate.

Clearly, the innovative work of our local employees is critically important to our company's success, and the growth and employment we are able to provide is based, in large part, on allowing innovation to grow.

Fortunately, Congress is currently working on a solution.

Last September, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1908, the Patent Reform Act of 2007 and the bill's Senate counterpart, S. 1145, is expected to be voted on before the end of the month. With the Patent Reform Act, Congress has an excellent opportunity to improve our nation's patent system and establish a balance between allowing our nation's innovators to continue their important work and protecting their rights as inventors.

The act strengthens and clarify patent guidelines so overall patent quality is improved. It also allows appropriate damage awards in the event that actual infringement occurrs. Just as important, it clearly delineates between willful infringement and cases where infringement is not deliberate, and prescribes appropriate action for each case.

The act also would address the need for effective and timely methods for patent review that will weed out bad patents in the system and cut down on the need for immediate litigation. The act creates new processes within the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to improve patent quality by providing a fair and timely method for reviewing patents after they have been issued by the patent office. The system would allow such a review either immediately after the patent is granted or in circumstances where a party can establish significant economic harm resulting from assertion of the patent.

The Senate now needs to complete what the House has already accomplished. It needs to step up and defend innovation and consumers in Colorado and across the nation by passing the Patent Reform Act of 2007.

Chris Christopher is a senior vice president of Hewlett-Packard in Colorado.

Comments

  • March 7, 2008

    5:23 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    ParTee writes:

    Have you read the bad things about this bill ?
    See the article below by Steve Farrell... If you search their are many more articles claiming how bad this bill will be if passed.

    http://mensnewsdaily.com/2008/02/25/p...

    http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/0...

  • March 7, 2008

    12:13 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jackwoehr writes:

    The patent system has been greatly abused in software. Probably software patents should be totally eliminated.

  • March 7, 2008

    12:25 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    kathyM writes:

    That's all fine to day until it's YOUR patent that expires, and then anyone and his brother can use your idea without paying you a dime.

  • March 8, 2008

    10:51 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    mershvm writes:

    Patent "reform" weakens patents and encourages infringement.
    So does weakening patents (an incentive to innovation) "aid" innovation ??? Not very likely.
    Does weakening patent aid HP's bottom line - now THAT's more like it.
    So the writer should at least come out and be honest and say - "patent reform may not necessarily encourage innovation (because it makes it easier for infringers to roll the dice and copy the inventor's ideas), but is good for my company's business model."

  • March 22, 2008

    5:23 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    rjriley5000 writes:

    Yes it is a shame that the only way an inventor can prosper is by hiring or partnering with a bunch of lawyers. It is a FACT that we need those lawyers because of the way the proponents of so called patent reform do business. If they would stop pirating our work we could spend much more time inventing and much less working with lawyers.

    Twenty years ago I was a big fan of HP. I bought lots of their products. Today I buy NO Hewlett Packard products because of their predatory conduct and the fact that they have lost their edge. Today their products are inferior. Unfortunately instead of recommending Hewlett Packard I am now actively encouraging many thousands of innovation based businesses to shun the company.

    Ronald J. Riley,

    Speaking only on my own behalf.
    Affiliations:
    President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
    Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
    Senior Fellow - www.patentPolicy.org
    President - Alliance for American Innovation
    Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
    Washington, DC
    Direct (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 9 pm EST.

  • March 22, 2008

    5:26 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    rjriley5000 writes:

    HP Reaps What They Sow

    Has it occurred to anyone that HP is being sued because they have a big appetite for other's patent property and a big ego that gets in the way of acquiring the rights to the patent properties they need to succeed in the market?

    Have you considered that Hewlett Packard gets sued after they have refused a legitimate offer for a license?

    Have you wondered why Hewlett Packard produces lots of patents yet still misses the most important technology they need to satisfy their customers?

    Or have you considered that Hewlett Packard 's membership in the Coalition for Patent fairness and PIRACY, aka. the Piracy Coalition is a good indication that birds of a feather do flock together?

    Some companies start as inventors, and some start as parasites on those who have invented. Eventually they end up alike, one group never being inventive and the second losing the ability to produce significant inventions as they age. Both will try to substitute quantity in patent filings for the quality of inventions they are incapable of producing. It does not work.

    All Piracy Coalition members fit one of these profiles. Tech companies who are past their prime, insurance and banking collectively have no shame!

    What they are very good at producing is innovative media hype which obfuscates the reality of their existence. Their multi-million dollar “troll” campaign is a perfect example of this. They paint their victims as “trolls” while the courts are finding their conduct so egregious that they are handing down staggering judgments. This is what happens to those who are caught lying, cheating, and stealing and no amount of public relations painting their victims as evil “trolls” can change the facts of these cases.

    Personally I think that it is a shame that Piracy Coalition members have failed to learn the lesson that inventors and the courts are teaching. It is all about conducting one’s business in an ethical manner!

    Ronald J. Riley,

    Speaking only on my own behalf.
    Affiliations:
    President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
    Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
    Senior Fellow - www.patentPolicy.org
    President - Alliance for American Innovation
    Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
    Washington, DC
    Direct (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 9 pm EST.

  • March 22, 2008

    5:36 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    rjriley5000 writes:

    HP Inventors Deserve Fair Compensation

    We believe that all employed inventors should receive a royalty in addition to their base pay and we believe that assignments should by law have to be renewed annually as part of the employee's review. At this time companies stick a pile of papers in front of new employees to sign, including assignments and the assignments are open ended. When the employee starts producing inventions, often many years later, the assignment comes into play. Once the assignment is in force it is not a factor in ongoing wage and benefit discussions.

    Even more egregious is the fact that companies use these outrageously broad assignment agreements with all employees, including those at the lowest pay scale such as secretaries and janitors. The result is that much of the time employees have jobs which have nothing to do with inventing which they are expected to do while producing an invention as unpaid overtime.

    A side effect of this situation is that employees quickly learn that disclosing an invention is not in their interest. Surely this is an unintended consequence of short sighted and short-term gain oriented management. Can America afford to have this situation continue at a time when innovation has become so important to our competitiveness?

    On a related matter, PIAUSA would also like to see the abomination which has been misnamed "free trade" turned into responsible and equitable trade. We recognize that globalization is inevitable, but we believe that it is long past time that management of this transition is taken from transnational corporations who have used it as cover to drive obscene profits at the expense of people in both developed and developing countries.

    Ronald J. Riley,

    Speaking only on my own behalf.
    Affiliations:
    President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
    Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
    Senior Fellow - www.patentPolicy.org
    President - Alliance for American Innovation
    Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
    Washington, DC
    Direct (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 9 pm EST.

  • March 22, 2008

    5:41 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    rjriley5000 writes:

    HP’s Vision For Patents Dealt Mortal Blow Recently

    Patent Deform legislation (S. 1145 and HR 1908) was dealt a mortal blow recently. The Coalition for Patent fairness & PIRACY (CPF or "C-poof") and their high-priced lobbyists are having a panic attack behind closed doors while publishing press releases painting a rosy picture of imminent passage.

    I expect another month to six weeks of the bill going through its death throws, but it will then expire.

    At that point the Professional Inventors Alliance (PIAUSA.org) will be looking at which of the proponents of the bill might be held accountable in upcoming elections.

    Perhaps next year we can address the real problem. Poor examiner working conditions are driving very high attrition. We only have one third as many examiners as we need. While USPTO management collects fees based on patent complexity, examiners are allocated a strict 20.5 hours for each patent application no matter the complexity.

    USPTO management is either grossly incompetent and/or corrupt. A cynic might surmise that USPTO management is perfectly willing to promote the interests of thieving transnational companies in the hope of improving their post USPTO employment opportunities.

    Problems at the USPTO are due to classic labor issues and PIAUSA is extremely pleased that a broad spectrum organized labor is recognizing this to be the core problem with the patent system.

    The Professional Inventors Alliance (PIAUSA.org) has been working with the American Ingenuity Alliance for many years to save American ingenuity, jobs, and the tax base of our communities from the excesses and shortsightedness of transnational corporate greed.

    PIAUSA is working hard to halt transnational corporations from stealing American inventor's work and shipping it to slave wage countries. It is ironic that these hypocritical corporations constantly whine about theft of their intellectual property while they are systematically destroying independent and small business to facilitate theft of other's patent properties. This practice is killing startup companies who could create decent paying jobs and a solid tax base which America desperately needs to replace jobs which these transnational corporations are exporting to low wage counties.

    Ronald J. Riley,

    Speaking only on my own behalf.
    Affiliations:
    President - www.PIAUSA.org - RJR at PIAUSA.org
    Executive Director - www.InventorEd.org - RJR at InvEd.org
    Senior Fellow - www.patentPolicy.org
    President - Alliance for American Innovation
    Caretaker of Intellectual Property Creators on behalf of deceased founder Paul Heckel
    Washington, DC
    Direct (202) 318-1595 - 9 am to 9 pm EST.