House subcommittee to hold oversight hearing on patent harmonization

The House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property has scheduled an oversight hearing on “Patent Harmonization” for Thursday, April 27, at  9:00 AM.  You can watch a live webcast of the hearing here.

Scheduled witnesses include Q. Todd Dickinson (former USPTO Director and current GE Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Counsel), Bob Armitage (Eli Lilly General Counsel), Gary Mueller (CEO of Digital Now, Inc.), and Pat Choate (political economist and author of one of my favorite books, Hot Property:  The Stealing of Ideas in an Age of Globalization).

Topics to be addressed will likely include legislative changes needed for harmonization efforts, including adoption of a first inventor to file system.  Noticeably absent from the witness list is a representative of the current USPTO administration.  An update on the Office’s harmonization efforts, including both internal and external efforts, seems appropriate for the topic.  The current status of the “Trilateral First Package” seems particularly relevant.