Patent Law Reform: An Analysis of the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 and Its Effect on Small, Entrepreneurial Firms (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Feb. 29, 2000 |
| Report Number |
RL30451 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
John R. Thomas, Resources, Science, and Industry Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
The American Inventors Protection Act of 1999, P.L. 106-113 , worked substantial reforms to
the
U.S. patent system. These reforms include provisions to protect inventors from deceptive invention
promotion services; reduce certain fees associated with filing applications at the United States Patent
and Trademark Office (PTO); create an infringement defense to first inventors of business methods
later patented by another; ensure that processing delays at the PTO would not adversely impact
patent term; mandate the publication of certain pending patent applications; establish provisional
patent rights following the publication of patent applications; provide for optional inter partes
reexamination procedures; and establish the PTO as an independent agency within the Department
of Commerce.
The eight different titles of the American Inventors Protection Act were shaped by diverse
motivations. However, many of the Act's provisions were influenced by concern for entrepreneurs
and small, entrepreneurial firms, actors that are generally perceived as a principal source of
innovative products and processes in the U.S. economy.
This report assesses the potential impact of the American Inventors Protection Act upon
entrepreneurs and small, entrepreneurial firms. It concludes that it is not possible to state the impact
of the American Inventors Protection Act upon individual inventors and small businesses with great
precision. Within these limits of confidence, however, there is evidence that most of the recent
patent law reforms do not significantly impact these companies any differently than larger, more
well-established enterprises. Whether a particular actor in the technological community will benefit
from the Act, or is negatively impacted by its provisions, depends upon traits that likely arise without
regard to the actor's size. These traits include the propensity of particular industrial sectors towards
patent acquisition and enforcement, the marketplace importance of that actor's patent portfolio, and
the innovative activity of the actor's competitors.
