OVERNIGHT TECH: Senate debates patent reform

THE LEDE: The Senate opened discussion of Senate Judiciary chairman Patrick Leahy's (D-Vt.) patent reform bill Monday afternoon; debate will continue on Tuesday. The bipartisan legislation received unanimous support in Committee and looks likely to pass over objections from groups including the Computer and Communications Industry Association, which called the bill a disappointment to the tech sector and worse than making no changes.

Leahy seemed unperturbed in his opening statement, once again touting the bill's efforts to overhaul the U.S. Patent and Trade Office. Advocates are concerned that switching to a first-inventor-to-file system will discourage innovation and entrepreneurship. Leahy pointed out the bill will provide the USPTO with the resources it needs to address its hefty backlog.

“Our bill is the product of years of work and compromise. From the beginning, we each recognized the need for a more effective and efficient patent system, one that improves patent quality and provides incentives for entrepreneurs to create jobs," Leahy said. "A balanced and efficient intellectual property system that rewards invention and promotes innovation through high quality patents is crucial to our nation’s economic prosperity and job growth.”

SCHEDULED: LOCKE TO TALK PATENT REFORM--Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will weigh in with the Obama administration's position on patent reform during a conference call with reporters on Tuesday morning. The administration has cracked down on online piracy to the delight of industry and has proposed a series of reforms at the USPTO that Locke will likely discuss at length during the call.

Also on Tuesday: The National Association of Broadcasters' state leadership conference opens on Capitol Hill with appearances from FCC Commissioner Robert M. McDowell, Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), House Energy & Commerce chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), and "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Willliams.

Also on the copyright front: the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Intellectual Property has a oversight hearing for IP enforcement coordinator Victoria Espinel Tuesday afternoon in Rayburn.

U.S. Trade Rep releases "notorious markets" list

The Chinese search engine Baidu and sites that index and track the file sharing service BitTorrent highlighted the U.S. Trade Representative's list of notorious physical and online markets for counterfeiting and piracy. This list is not exhaustive but attempts to provide examples of notorious markets in several categories such as the Russian pay-per-download site Allofmp3, BitTorrent indexing sites like ThePirateBay and sites offering pirated sports telecasts like the China-based TV Ants. The report also lists physical markets that deal heavily in counterfeit goods.

ICYMI: 

Sen. Chuck Schumer wants web companies to provide better security for users on public WiFi.

Rosetta Stone thinks Google should be liable for putting ads on sites with counterfeit content.

NAB President Gordon Smith says Time Warner and DISH Network are hoarding spectrum.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said the FCC has overstepped its bounds.

Blocked.

Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) has apparently taken to blocking some reporters, such as the Dallas Morning News' Tom Benning, from following him on Twitter. Reports of Perry blocking reporters first surfaced in October; the Governor reportedly controls his own account. His office did not respond to Benning's requests for comment.