Supply Excellence — The Need for Patent Reform: By the Numbers

The Need for Patent Reform: By the Numbers

July 16th, 2007 · by Tim Minahan · No Comments · supply risk

It’s been a months since the litigation tsunami over business methods patents roared through the supply management sector, threatening to drown innovation for both process and software. There’s been little word as to how these cases have settled since. (Unless SpendMatters blogmaster and industry insider Jason Busch has any idea.) However, there has been progress on the legislation front.

A new bill sponsored by Senate Judiciary Committe Chairman Patrick Leahy and Sen. Orrin Hatch could both curb awards of frivilous business-method patents (such as those awarded for executing a purchase order or a negotiation online) and limit the damages that can be recovered from infringing companies. The bill, which is loosely based on recommendations put forth by Patent Trademark Office (PTO) Director Jon Dudas (and evaluated here) last month, is also moving through the House of Representatives and could come to a vote before the end of the month.

I’ll be keep an eye on activities on The Hill and report back their likely impact on the supply management sector here. In the interim, the latest issue of BusinessWeek offers some concerning statistics that reaffirm why reform is in order. Accoding to the article:

“Congress hasn’t seriously updated patent law since 1952, long before the dawn of the Silicon Age.”
In 2006, the PTO received 443,652 patent applications, “more than double the tally in 1996.”
The PTO awarded 183,187 patents last year, a 57% uptick from a decade earlier.
2,700 patent lawsuits were filed in 2006.

Left unchecked, the growth in patent filings and suits could stall supply management process and software innovation just as the discipline is getting street (or board) cred.

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