patentholders BEWARE!!

The Senate is now deciding whether or not to take up S.
1145, the Patent Reform Act of 2007. This bill represents
the best effort to promote meaningful patent reform, which
is sorely needed. Among other things, the bill aims to
reduce certain excessive patent infringement damages, allow
third parties to file patent defeating documents before
patents are issued, and create a new system for challenging
bad patents. While not perfect, S. 1145 is an important
step in the right direction.

For years, EFF's Patent Busting Project has been a
successful and important front in the fight against harmful
patents and patent abuse. While S. 1145 is generally a good
and important piece of legislation, dangerous language
cropped up in a draft committee report about the bill --
language that threatens the efforts of advocacy groups to
battle patents harmful to consumers, innovation, and the
public interest. There's time yet to address this threat,
so urge your Senators, when looking at S. 1145, to
reevaluate and adjust the provisions in Section 5, titled
"Post-grant Procedures."

The House has already passed its version (H.R. 1908) --
let's keep the momentum for patent reform going strong in
the Senate!

For more information, check out:
http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=361