The House of Representatives is set to vote, probably on the 22nd, on the patent reform legislation that would ban tax strategy patents, H.R. 1249 (The America Invents Act) (easily readable summary on Thomas.gov available here).
Sec. 14 of the act would deem any strategy for reducing, avoiding, or deferring tax liability insufficient to differentiate a claimed invention from the prior art when evaluating specified conditions of patentability.
It seems that there is momentum on this issue and finally Congress may act to make tax strategy patents a thing of the past (except, of course, for the 140 or so already granted).
One member of the House, Congressman Jared Polis, apparently wants Congress to grandfather in all the businesses that have submitted application for tax patents. That would about double the number of patents. As the AICPA-led coalition put it in a letter to Congress objecting to the idea,
We understand that some of these patent applicants, awaiting a decision by PTO, may argue that they divulged certain proprietary information or business strategies when they applied for their patents, and therefore, at this point in the process, they should be entitled to continue. However, all patent applicants send in their applications with the understanding that they may not ultimately receive a patent. Should Congress continue to allow the PTO to issue these anti-taxpayer patents just because someone applied for one? The answer is a resounding no. Tax strategy patents are simply not in the public interest, and Congress must put a stop to them. AICPA-Coalition letter is available Download Patent_Reform_TSP_Coalition_Letter_in_Opposition_to_Polis_Amendment_June_21_ 2011.
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