A publication of the CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS SERVICE published weekly by A THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY A

A publication of the CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS SERVICE published weekly by A THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY A

A publication of the CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS SERVICE published weekly by

▲ THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY A

Senator HART. I wind up the hearings having a better understanding of the patent office and the patent system. Everybody here has contributed largely to that. Thank you.

I do have a closing statement.

Tradition compels a closing statement at the end of a hearing. So, rather than reform this venerable practice, here goes.

I opened the hearings by stating that:

No system designed in 1836 can remain viable under the economic and technological conditions of 1973. And that is why the patent system is under attack. Unless it is reformed to create procedures, safeguards, and mechanisms to weed out the bad patents before issuance-whether fraudulent or not-and to assure the expeditious and impartial issuance of patents that meet the constitutional and statutory standards, the patent system will die of atrophy.

A fair reading of the hearing record, I believe, shows remarkable agreement as to the patent system's main vices. They interact and result in a game of blind man's bluff on a motorcycle, the objective seemingly being to find the edge of the cliff as quickly as possible. These vices include:

1. The ex parte manner in which patents issue.

2. The failure to disclose material information by persons dealing with the Patent Office.

3. The lack of modern search facilities and compulsory process to enable the Patent Office to obtain or compel the furnishing of such material information.

4. A tendency by Patent Office management to emphasize production goals: quantity rather than quality.

5. A lack of interest and understanding by the Patent Office of the public impact of spurious patents.

6. Submergence of Patent Office needs to the broader objectives of the Department of Commerce.

These inadequacies have interacted over the years and result in more than 70 percent of litigated patents being declared invalid. Although only one percent of the patents are litigated, those that reach the courts have a significant impact on the consuming public. For example, two invalid drug patents alone tetracycline and ampicillin-cost consumers more than $1 billion in overcharges. Guesstimates at the hearings indicated that a significant proportion of nonlitigated issued patents are not of sufficient inventive quality to merit a patent.

If patent reform was deemed vital in 1966, today it is imperative. Just as the President's Commission then recognized that meaningful reform could not be achieved by patchwork, a viable patent system today requires the institution of a multifaceted and interrelated approach. This includes:

1. Assuring disclosure of all material information by—

(a) Replacing the ex parte method of issuing patents with a public adversary proceeding;

(b) Requiring a patentability brief and a comprehensive oath by inventors, attorneys, and applicants;

(c) Authorizing the use of subpenas and the discovery process; and

(d) Creating the Office of Public Counsel within the Patent Office to represent the public interest in assuring the expeditiour issuance of valid patents and the prompt rejection of others.

2. Modernizing Patent Office search facilities to facilitate prompt and complete access to relevant prior art.

3. Eliminating production goals and quotas stressing quantity rather than quality.

4. Instituting a deferred examination system to allow a more thorough examination of fewer applications.

5. Instituting a system of maintenance fees to return individual inventors and small businessmen to the mainstream of technological progress.

6. Removing the Patent Office from the Department of Commerce and making it an independent agency.

The subcommittee will begin marking up a patent reform bill shortly, and it is expected that a patent reform bill will be reported before the recess. Testimony of administration witnesses indicates the existence of a progressive administration bill, and I again urge the administration to provide the subcommittee with its patent reform proposal.

As I said, I want as we adjourn these hearings to express my appreciation to the Chairman of the Subcommittee, Senator McClellan, for his willingness in authorizing the hearings and I hope that the subcommittee will find that the addition of these hearings permits us to say we have just covered the whole front.

I am grateful to Mr. Brennan for his always careful arrangement of the details and as to the management of the hearings and I thank Mr. Brennan and Mr. Nash for developing a witness list that I believe has been helpful to all of us.

I won't repeat what was said in the opening statement, namely the subcommittee's wish to get a bill to the Senate before this session closes. As we look to this calendar, this may be just another political pipe dream but it is my understanding the staff will now being to develop basic procedures for markup. I can't resist saying at this point that if the Administration wants the attention it is entitled to, the sooner it gets it bills in, the better for all of us.

I thank again all who have testified.

[Whereupon at 1:30 pm the subcommittee recess subject to the call of the Chair.]