The Big Picture of Patent Reform Legislation

The patent system underwent dramatic changes with the enactment of the America Invents Act (AIA) in 2011, which included many game-changing reforms such as, for example, inter partes review proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Appeals Board (PTAB).¹ Yet, even with the AIA reforms, certain industry groups pressed Congress for additional reform to address what they perceived as an increasing number of frivolous patent suits. In response to these calls for additional reform, Congress began sponsoring legislation aimed at reforming the patent system once again.

Accordingly, a bevy of patent bills are currently pending in Congress. Namely, Congress is considering the Innovation Act,² the Protecting American Talent and Entrepreneurship Act (PATENT Act),³ the Support Technology and Research for Our Nation’s Growth Patents Act,⁴ the Innovation Protection Act,⁵ the Demand Letter Transparency Act,⁶ and the Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters Act.⁷ The Innovation Act in the House and the PATENT Act in the Senate are the most prominent so they will be the focus of this article.