Leahy tells colleagues to block Coburn amendment to patent reform bill

By Gautham Nagesh - 09/07/11 06:26 PM ET

Senate Judiciary chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) urged his colleagues on Wednesday to oppose an amendment from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) that would end fee diversion from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Coburn's amendment would set up a key divide between the House and Senate over the patent reform bill now under debate.

The Senate is currently considering the House version of the bill, which doesn't explicitly end the practice of diverting fees from USPTO. Coburn has vowed to do everything in his power to block the bill if his amendment fails, but Leahy said the difference between the two was a mere technicality.

"While I oppose fee diversion, I also oppose the Coburn amendment. After six years of work to get this bill here, this may kill the bill over a formality - the difference between a revolving fund and a reserve fund," Leahy said, arguing the amendment would send the bill back to the House again.

"They spent days and weeks in heavy debate, working out their compromise in good faith," he added. "And it was worked out by the House Republican leadership. There is no reason that having done that, they will reconsider and allow the original Coburn language to violate their rules and avoid oversight."

House Republicans, specifically the leadership of the Appropriations Committee, objected to the Senate language because they argue it would have made USPTO independent of Congressional oversight. But Coburn has argued that appropriators cannot be trusted not to skim from the patent office funds.

In his statement Leahy cited his long record of working to oppose fee diversion but said the issue shouldn't be allowed to derail a six-year effort that is on the cusp of fruition.

The White House and both parties have framed patent reform as a job-creating measure, though many small entrepreneurs argue the new rules will privilege big firms with the resources to file multiple patent applications before their competition.

But many prominent industry groups and technology firms including IBM have strongly supported the bill. The firm wrote to congressional staff on Wednesday urging passage of the bill and noting it has been almost 60 years since the nation's patent laws have been significantly updated.