The Senate Judiciary Committee did hold a meeting this morning discussing several appointments pending before the Committee and pending patent reform legislation. The meeting was quite brief, lasting less than 30 minutes, presumably because there is an important mark-up meeting regarding the Budget. According to Senator Leahy, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senators will once again meet regarding patent reform on Tuesday, March 31, 2009.
There were several minor, technical amendments made to the patent reform bill during the Executive Meeting today, but no major or significant changes were made. There will be news coming out of this meeting though, particularly Senator Leahy promising that there will be a patent bill this year, and soon. Senator Specter explaining that Senators are very close to a compromise and the changes may be “very significant,” Senator Hatch explaining that it will be impossible for everyone to be happy and, most importantly perhaps, Senator Feinstein explaining that as long as the bill favors only high-tech companies it has no chance of passing the full Senate. It is significant to note that Senators Specter and Feinstein seem to be on the same page, and Senator Hatch seemed somewhat upset and put off by the fact that consensus is desired, which could signal that high-tech will not be getting their wish list after all.
