InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[jimmylee]

From another board. Let's hope that the Senate reads this one....

China Weighs in on U.S. Patent Reform Bill
Received the following from a reader today:

Remember the Indian newspaper article arguing that the patent reform measures being considered by Congress will make it easier for India's patent holders to enter the U.S. market? A similar story has now surfaced in China, this one written by one of that country's leading intellectual property experts.

The attached article (Download patent_reform_article_china_intellectual_property_news.pdf) was published in China Intellectual Property News on November 7, 2007, and has just been translated into English. Its author is Yongshun Cheng, former senior judge and deputy director of the Intellectual Property Division of the Beijing High People's Court. Cheng argues that the proposed patent reform bill is bad news for American innovation and good news for foreign infringers, pointing out that the bill "is friendlier to the infringers than to the patentees in general as it will make the patent less reliable, easier to be challenged and cheaper to be infringed." He goes on:

"It is not bad news for developing countries which have fewer patents. Many of the Chinese companies are not patent owners in the U.S. market and their products are often excluded from the market because of patent infringement accusations. This bill will give the companies from developing countries more freedom and flexibility to challenge the relative U.S. patent for doing business in U.S. and make it less costly to infringe."

Cheng concludes by claiming that the proposed bill is in conflict with the U.S. government's practice of pressuring China to strengthen its own protection of intellectual property rights.

Cheng is the current director of the Beijing Intellectual Property Institute (BIPI). In