专利改革的生物技术规定BIOTECHNOLOGYS PRESCRIPTION FOR PATENT REFORM.doc

FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLY 5 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 318 John Marshall Review of Intellectual Property Law Spring, 2006 *318 专利改革的生物技术规定BIOTECHNOLOGYS PRESCRIPTION FOR PATENT REFORM Christopher M. Holman [FNa1] Copyright ? 2006 The John Marshall Law School, Christopher M. Holman INTRODUCTION On June 8, 2005, Texas Congressman Lamar Smith introduced H.R. 2795, with the short title of Patent Reform Act of 2005, in the U.S. House of Representatives. [FN1] If enacted, H.R. 2795 would have constituted the most substantial and comprehensive package of patent law reforms since the Patent Act of 1952. [FN2] The proposed amendments not only would have changed the rules pursuant to the way that patents are procured, enforced, and challenged, they would have fundamentally altered the requirements for a patentable invention. [FN3] Not surprisingly, the prospect of such sweeping reform engendered a strong backlash from a variety of interest groups whose constituencies might be adversely impacted by changes to the status quo, [FN4] and for the time being H.R. 2795 appears to have stalled. [FN5] Nevertheless, at some point Congress will return its attention to patent reform, and it seems likely that at least some of the provisions of the bill will eventually become law. [FN6] One of the groups most critical of the reform package was the biotechnology industry. [FN7] Biotechnology is one of the fastest growing industrial sectors in the United States, and also one of the industries most dependent upon the availability of strong intellectual property rights. [FN8] This importance is reflected in the keen interest biotechnology takes in shaping patent law and policy both in the United States and abroad. [FN9] In this paper, I will consider the potential impact of various aspects of patent reform from the perspective of this important sector of the economy. *319 I. BACKGROUND ON H.R. 2795 The recent round of patent reform legislation was driven in large part by a widely held