To: President Donald Trump, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Small Entity IP
Reform the law for intellectual property before we lose our technological edge altogether.
Why is this important?
The abuses of the IP system, especially patents, are well known, and it is understood that they are so extreme as to threaten our economy.
However, before I became an intellectual property attorney (and at least a part of the reason I became an IP attorney) is that IP as it applies to small entities can be very important, and a major force for the good of our nation. Specifically, as a small inventor, I had two inventions stolen from me due to the lack of protection (I had not patented them), and one of them was rather valuable (both of them were inventions I was working on to bring to perfection, and, in fact, had spent considerable sums on, so not JUST ideas, these were inventions).
However, Congress has mandated that the USPTO be profitable, and at the same time has mandated that small inventors get huge discounts. To ensure profitability, the USPTO has made the Examiners responsible for profitability personally. The inevitable result - small entity patents, no matter how valuable, are routinely rejected - with NO recourse by an independent agency!
The certain result will be a decline in true innovation in the US!
However, before I became an intellectual property attorney (and at least a part of the reason I became an IP attorney) is that IP as it applies to small entities can be very important, and a major force for the good of our nation. Specifically, as a small inventor, I had two inventions stolen from me due to the lack of protection (I had not patented them), and one of them was rather valuable (both of them were inventions I was working on to bring to perfection, and, in fact, had spent considerable sums on, so not JUST ideas, these were inventions).
However, Congress has mandated that the USPTO be profitable, and at the same time has mandated that small inventors get huge discounts. To ensure profitability, the USPTO has made the Examiners responsible for profitability personally. The inevitable result - small entity patents, no matter how valuable, are routinely rejected - with NO recourse by an independent agency!
The certain result will be a decline in true innovation in the US!