Judiciary Committee hoping to move patent overhaul in coming weeks

The authors of a Senate patent reform bill are looking to move it to the floor in the coming weeks, but a Senate aide acknowledged this week that no schedule has been set.

The aide said they hope it can move in the coming weeks or months.

The Patent Reform Act of 2011, S. 23, was reported to the full Senate this week by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and is supported by Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), ranking member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), and former ranking member Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). Two similar versions of the bill have been passed by the committee since 2008 and failed to advance, but Leahy said he would again push the bill this year.

"One of our top priorities is the Patent Reform Act," Leahy said last month in a speech laying out the committee's agenda. "Updating our antiquated patent system will keep America at the forefront of innovation and invention. It will help bolster our economy and protect jobs."

The bill would modernize the U.S. patent system and move it from a first-to-file system to a first-to-invent system. This change would harmonize the U.S. system with the one used by almost every other country in the world, and is aimed at reducing patent litigation costs.

"I hope the full Senate will soon have an opportunity to debate this bipartisan legislation," Grassley said Thursday.

The Senate is unlikely to take up the bill until the week of Feb. 14 at the earliest, since it will be preoccupied with the FAA bill until then. So far, the House Judiciary Committee has not begun work on a companion bill.