The US Manufacturers Association for Development and Enterprise (US*MADE) thanks Senators Leahy, Cornyn and Tillis for introducing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board Reform Act of 2022 – a bill aimed at addressing the unlawful denial of patent validity challenges at the USPTO – and looks forward to working with them on this bill to ensure that it effectively achieves this goal.
“A decade ago, the America Invents Act put important patent system reforms in place that enable small and large manufacturers alike to defend themselves against bad patents being weaponized against them, including inter partes review (IPR), a crucial process for reviewing claims of patentability. Unfortunately, IPR denials rose drastically under the previous USPTO director. Access to this legal tool must be strengthened to protect U.S. manufacturers from extortion by patent trolls and unnecessary patent lawsuits over vague, low-quality patents.
“Now, more than ever, it’s important to protect U.S. manufacturers from this avoidable threat as they work to manage the realities of supply chain setbacks, labor shortages, and price inflation. There is no policy rationale for preventing bad patents from being reviewed for validity by the USPTO.