The House bill retroactively allows new review of financial business method patents, creating an illegal grab of property held by small patent holders, argued Representative John Conyers Jr., a Michigan Democrat. “The bill essentially will give large banks a special new bailout at the expense of small inventors and the American taxpayer, and even worse, would do so on a retroactive basis,” he said on the House floor.

Conyers also questioned the bill’s first-to-file provision, saying it hurts small inventors who may not have the money to file patents quickly. “As a result, the bill would permit the Patent and Trademark Office to award a patent to the first person who can win a race to the patent office regardless of who is the actual inventor,” he said. “This is patently unfair to inventors.”

Wallshadows wrote on Jun 26, 2011, 15:44:
Hopefully this will put a end to all the senseless suing done by folks who only have the idea on paper.