By Judy Newman, The Wisconsin State Journal
(MCT)
Sept. 21--The nation's new patent law is going to help major corporations at the expense
of the little guys, said Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of the
UW-Madison's Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
"This, basically, is a big-business patent bill," Gulbrandsen said. "It
doesn't benefit small business and individual inventors. And we're in an
economy where you want small businesses to prosper and hire."
President Barack Obama signed the America Invents Act into law on Friday,
the first overhaul of U.S. patent law since 1952. Supporters said the law will
make it easier for inventors to bring their products to market and will spur
invention and create jobs.
But Gulbrandsen, whose office turns discoveries in UW-Madison labs into
patents, said he thinks the opposite will be true.
Up to now, U.S. patents have gone to the first person to invent a product
or process. But a provision that takes effect in 18 months will let the first
to file get the patent, as is the case in the rest of the world. Researchers
worldwide are trying to find solutions to similar problems, and those with
more money will rush to the patent office first, Gulbrandsen said.
He said WARF will "do fine" under the new law, but smaller university
patent offices may not.
Inventors have had a one-year grace period to file for a U.S. patent, but
under the new law, the invention must be published in order to get a one-year
grace period. But if it is published, the inventor gives up all foreign patent
rights. "That's not a good trade-off," Gulbrandsen said.
John Neis, a managing director of Venture Investors, a Madison investment
firm that specializes in young companies, said the new rules will be a drain
on startups, pushing them to spend more money on patent attorneys and patent
filings early on, before they take time to see if the patent is worthwhile.
"There will be more patents filed and abandoned because of the race,"
Neis said.
Supporters say the law is meant to ensure that the patent office, with a
backlog of 1.2 million pending patents, has the money to speed the application
process.
But Gulbrandsen said while the fees collected by the patent office will
be put into a trust fund, there is no protection to "prevent Congress from
raiding that trust."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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