Starting at 10:30AM today, the USPTO will be holding a conference call to discuss details regarding the Patent Reform Act of 2007. This teleconference, highlighted by Jon Dudas, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, will include a discussion on the Bush administration’s position on S. 1145, noting that the administration does not support the legislation in its current form but is in favor of revising the patent system. According to the USPTO notice (link below), “The Administration opposes S. 1145 because it does not strike the right balance for all innovators,” and “[u]nless the provisions limiting inventors’ rights to obtain damages are significantly revised, the Administration believes the resulting harm to the U.S. intellectual property (IP) system would outweigh the bill’s many useful reforms.” In a letter from Nathaniel Weinecke of the office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs for the U.S. Department of Commerce, to Pat Leahy, the Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary (link below), the administration details its opposition to Section 4 of S. 1145 (“Right of the Inventor to Obtain Damages”), noting that this section “limits the discretion of the Federal courts in determining how damages are calculated to compensate a patent holder for patent infringement,” and that “such a dramatic change from current jurisprudence may have the unintended consequence of reducing the rewards of innovation and encouraging patent infringement.” Information for reporters to call in and listen to the teleconference is available at the first link below.

USPTO Notice: LINK
Bush Administration Letter: LINK