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29 June 2016Copyright

Hillary Clinton proposes new patent rules and backs USPTO fee collection

US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has said she supports stricter laws to improve the US’s patent system and has suggested allowing the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to keep all the money it receives from applications.

In a document called “ Initiative on Technology & Innovation”, released yesterday, June 28, the Democratic candidate said she wants to improve the country’s patent system to reward innovators.

Describing the system as an “envy of the world”, she said reducing excessive litigation and strengthening the USPTO’s operational capacity should be the main targets.

On reducing excessive litigation Clinton said she supports additional laws to ensure that litigants have “a nexus to the venue in which they are suing” and that specific allegations are made in demand letters.

“The Obama administration made critical updates to our patent system through the America Invents Act, which created the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and through other efforts to rein in frivolous suits by patent trolls. But costly and abusive litigation remains,” she wrote.

On the USPTO, the document said there should be legislation that allows the office to retain the fees it collects from applications in a separate fund.

If implemented this would end the current practice which allows Congress to distribute application fees across other agencies, and enable the USPTO to keep all the funds available to spend on new technologies and training.

Clinton added that the office should carry out a faster review of patent applications, though no exact time frame has been suggested.

The document also references the need to ensure there is an effective copyright policy including by unlocking and facilitating access to orphan works, and promoting open-licensing arrangements for copyrighted material and data.

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