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PA Senator Casey's response- Toomey couldnt be bothered to comment

Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding patent reform. I appreciate hearing from you about this issue.

Our patent system is vital for protecting inventors and promoting innovation, and a balance must be struck between protecting the initial inventor and encouraging further innovation. The patent system must protect inventors to ensure they receive an appropriate return on investments they make in research and development. The system must also foster innovation by ensuring patents are not used to corner a market and stifle further innovation by competitors.

On January 25, 2011, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont introduced S. 23, the America Invents Act. S. 23 transitioned the U.S. to a first-inventor-to-file system, which simplified the application system and harmonized it with our trading partners, reduced costs and improved the competitiveness of American inventors seeking protection globally. The law improved patent quality by establishing the opportunity for third parties to submit information related to a pending application and created a “first window” that allowed challengers to weed out wrongly issued patents.

Additionally, S. 23 maintained current laws on damages claims for patent infringement and continued the gatekeeper role of the courts and ensured that damage claims were appropriately and fairly calculated. The America Invents Act passed the Senate on March 8, 2011, by a vote of 95-5.

The House of Representatives passed their version of patent reform, H.R. 1249, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, on June 23, 2011, by a vote of 304-117. On September 8, 2011, the Leahy- Smith Act was passed in the Senate and on September 16, 2011, the President signed the Leahy- Smith Act into law.

On November 18, 2013, Senator Leahy introduced S. 1720, the Patent Transparency and Improvements Act of 2013. S. 1720 would require a plaintiff to disclose all patent owners in a patent case, thus promoting transparency in patent ownership. The bill also seeks to address “patent trolls” that target small businesses. These trolls send demand letters frequently with limited or no legal or factual basis to small businesses in order to extract payments. This bill also seeks to help small businesses that are targeted by patent trolls by directing the Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) to provide education and resources to small businesses that are victimized.

On October 23, 2013, Congressman Bob Goodlatte of Virginia introduced H.R. 3309, the Innovation Act, which is a companion bill to S. 1720. This bill targets abusive patent lawsuits through greater transparency by requiring individuals to give specific reasons why they are suing over a patent as well as providing specific information on how the patent is infringed. This bill also seeks to help provide greater simplicity to court cases. H.R. 3309 also helps protect small businesses by providing for education and outreach to the PTO. On December 5, 2013, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3309.

S. 1720 and H.R. 3309 were referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, of which I am not a member. Should these bills or similar legislation reach the full Senate for consideration, please be assured that I will keep your views in mind.

As always, I appreciate your views, thoughts and concerns as they assist me in understanding what is important to the people of Pennsylvania. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or any other matter of importance to you.

For more information on this or other issues, I encourage you to visit my website, http://casey.senate.gov. I hope you will find this online office a comprehensive resource to stay up-to-date on my work in Washington, request assistance from my office or share with me your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you and to Pennsylvania.

Sincerely,
Bob Casey
United States Senator