Hearing scheduled on substitute text for Patent Act of 2005

The House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property has scheduled a legislative hearing on the Patent Act of 2005 for Thursday, September 15th, 2005 at 10:00 AM Eastern.

It appears that the hearing will focus solely on the proposed amendment to the Patent Act of 2005.  The amendment, which is a substitute bill, has been circulated by Chairman Lamar Smith but has not been entered yet.

The proposed amendment to the bill is quite controversial as it completely eliminates the injunctive relief provision and the “second window” option for post-grant review procedures.  It also eliminates a provision that would allow for limits on continuation practice.  These provisions of the Patent Act of 2005 are strongly supported by the information technology sector and are strongly opposed by other sectors, including the pharmaceutical sector.

This prior PTP post has an overview of the proposed amendment.

You can view and/or download a .pdf of the Patent Act of 2005 here.  A .pdf of the proposed amendment is available here.