Marla Grossman & Chris Israel

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Patent Issues on the Legislative Agenda for 2012 & 2013

Numerous provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) went into effect on September 16, 2012, marking the one year anniversary of the President’s signing of the bipartisan patent reform legislation. With the passage of this regulatory milestone, does that mean that the Federal Government will simply focus on the continued implementation of the AIA and take a respite from debating other patent public policy issues? Highly unlikely. In fact, in addition to AIA implementation issues, several patent public policy issues outside the scope of the AIA are already under consideration before Congress, the ITC, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and other Federal Agencies.

Copyright Issues on the Legislative Agenda for 2012-2013

Though they are unlikely to take center stage during the truncated session before elections or the post-election lame duck session, lawmakers will have to contend with several key copyright issues during the 113th Congress. Thus, no matter who wins on November 6, IP leaders in the House and Senate are likely to use the remainder of this calendar year to set the stage for next year’s copyright agenda. The priority copyright issues for the remainder of 2012 and 2013 are: (1) Anti Piracy Initiatives; (2) Internet Issues; (3) International Agreements; (4) Music Licensing; (5) Book Licensing; and (6) TV Broadcast Issues. Each is discussed more fully below.