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Letter on Patent Reform to Senators Orrin Hatch and Patrick Leahy, Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committtee
June 18, 1997
The Honorable Orrin G. Hatch Dear Chairman Hatch: On behalf of the Association of American Universities (AAU), I write to express our appreciation for your many efforts to respond to the concerns the university community brought to your attention regarding S. 507, the Omnibus Patent Act of 1997. We are particularly grateful for the improvements that have been made in the patent term restoration and patent reexamination provisions of the bill. Although our preference would have been to drop the reexamination provision altogether, the changes that were made in that section of the bill are very responsive to our concerns and we thank you for them. As you are aware, the university community has long opposed the inclusion of a new prior-user right in any patent reform bill. We are concerned that this new right will undermine our ability to guarantee an exclusive license to potential licensees. However, we do appreciate your efforts to extend the new prior-user right to the nonprofit sector, including universities, and for clarifying what the responsibilities are for any party who asserts a prior-user right. As you are also aware, the university community is concerned about what possible implications there may be for copyright policy should a new Under Secretary of Intellectual Property position be created at the Department of Commerce, as was called for in H.R. 400. We noted that a new Under Secretary position was not created as part of S. 507. However, should you consider creating such a position as S. 507 moves through the legislative process, we urge that you also be sure to strengthen and clarify the authority of the Copyright Office by amendments to Title 17. While AAU's concern about the prior-user-right provision keeps us from endorsing S. 507, because of the many improvements that have been made in the bill, we will not oppose it when it comes before the full Senate for a vote. We recognize that there is bipartisan support for this bill and that there is a need for updating patent policy. In addition, you and your colleagues have worked hard and acted in good faith to respond to many other concerns the university community raised regarding S. 507. Therefore, we will, as we did during the House debate on H.R. 400, adopt a neutral position on the Omnibus Patent Act. This has not been an easy issue for us. Over the years universities have worked with many of those who are supporters of S. 507. Yet we also have ties to some who oppose the bill. Throughout this process, however, we have tried to make our concerns clear and our message consistent, and to work with those of you who have the even more challenging job of drafting and passing a balanced proposal for patent reform legislation. We appreciate your concern about the impact this legislation might have on universities, and we look forward to continuing to work with you on this legislation and on other legislation of interest to research universities that is under your committee's jursidiction. Sincerely,
Cornelius J. Pings *Identical letter sent to Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Ranking Minority Member, Senate Judiciary Committee
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