Senate reform bill to be delayed?

A group of five Republican Senators has asked that the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold more hearings on patent reform before approving the Patent Reform Act in its Thursday hearing.

The Senators questioned the substance of the apportionment of damages and post-grant review provisions of the bill:

These changes “need to be more carefully examined to ensure that they do not undermine innovation, increase frivolous litigation, or undermine property rights,” the letter said.

Surprisingly, the Senators did not question the appropriateness of the bill in the wake of KSR v. Teleflex. Many proponents of patent reform have cited the low obviousness hurdle as one of the driving needs for patent reform..and the Supreme Court clearly addressed that issue in its recent KSR decision. It seems that, in the wake of KSR, any patent reform motivated by concerns over obviousness should be put on hold until the legacy of that case becomes clear.