On February 3, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve S. 23, the Patent Reform Act of 2011. The bill would include a number of provisions to address the review of patents after they are granted by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. The bill does not include any new law related to “business method patents,” which the U.S. Supreme Court refused to invalidate in its 2010 opinion in the Bilski v. Kappos case. However, senators on both sides of the aisle on the committee have voiced strong objections to that kind of patent and have indicated that they are ready to introduce either amendments or new legislation to curb (or prohibit) the availability of such patents. The House has yet to introduce complementary patent-reform legislation. “IP stakeholders and practitioners have been waiting for years for reforms to the nation’s patent laws,” says Christopher Barnett, an attorney with Scott & Scott, LLP. “The patent prosecution process is notoriously slow and cumbersome, and the system is weighted down with claims related to patents that arguably do not relate to the kinds of technologies that should be considered patentable. It will be very interesting to see if both houses of Congress can manage to agree on meaningful legislation that the President is willing to sign.” For more information, please contact Mr. Barnett at 800-596-6178 or cbarnett@scottandscottllp.com.