Patent law
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Legislation altering certain patent procedures was attached to the omnibus spending package passed by Congress Nov. 19. The bill (HR 1907, S 1798) would, among other things, lower the fee associated with filing an original patent application, a reissue of a patent, or "certain international applications" from $760 to $690 and add one day to a patent's life for every day over three years it takes to approve the patent. Furthermore, certain patents would be published after 18 months, whether they had been granted or not