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Congressman Bob Latta (R-Bowling Green) issued the following statement after President Obama signed into law the America Invents Act, H.R. 1249, a comprehensive patent reform bill that transforms the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The bill implements a first-inventor-to-file standard for patent approval, creates a post-grant review system to weed out bad patents, and assists the Patent and Trademark Office address its backlog of patent applications.

“Help from Washington has finally arrived for inventors and entrepreneurs, as businesses will no longer have to wait to innovate new products. The quicker new innovations can be patented, the quicker the private sector can create jobs. After nearly 60 years of outdated practices and bureaucratic backlogs, Washington can finally provide innovators the confidence they need to commercialize their inventions.”

The America Invents Act includes elements of a bill Congressman Latta introduced on January 7, 2011, the Patent Lawsuit Reform, H.R. 243, which limits the damages businesses can be fined for an expired patent number, or inapplicable patent number. Like HR 243, the America Invents Act also limits frivolous lawsuits so that only the U.S. government or a person suffering competitive injury may bring a civil action in court.