House Bill Seeks to Abolish PTAB & AIA

Political Theater & Patent Reform

The Stronger Patent Act has failed to gain traction for several years now. The Bill is deemed to one-sided, proposing legislative changes that would effectively kill AIA trial proceedings. Strangely, a new bill was introduced last week that goes even further.

The so-called Restoring America’s Leadership in Innovation Act (here) proposes to disband the Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB) and with it, AIA trial proceedings. The new bill also seeks to convert the U.S. system back to a first-to-invent system. The Bill is sponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and co-sponsored by Reps. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.). Some may recall Reps. Rohrabacher and Kaptur as being opponents of the post-grant mechanisms of the AIA.

While perhaps heartening to critics of the PTAB, the latest bill is little more than political theater. With mid-term elections on the way, and a Supreme Court nomination battle, attempts at patent reform will have to wait until 2019 – assuming a balanced bill ever emerges.

Scot t A. McKeown is an author of the Patents Post Grant.