better late than never

I e-mailed my congressman a few weeks ago regarding the second midterm, and he finally e-mailed me back a couple of days ago. His response to my email, although late, was interesting and thorough. Take a look:

Ms. Erica Fisher
80 Ridgecreek Trail
Moreland Hills, Ohio 44022-2379

Dear Ms. Fisher:

Thank you for taking the time to contact me for your news story. It was good to hear you and I appreciate the opportunity to respond.

I’ll be happy to share my thoughts on the major legislation dealing with intellectual property during the 110th Congress. The most important bill that came before Congress was the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1908). This legislation was introduced by Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) in April of 2007. The purpose of this legislation was to move the United States Patent system from the first to invent to first to file like the rest of the world. It would also tighten venue requirements which would prevent “patent friendly” district courts from receiving a large number of patent cases, and create new-post grant review process to allow disputes involving patent quality and scope to be settled outside of district court.

This legislation would also have overhauled the current actual contribution clause that under current law rewards a patentee who sues based on infringement for using their patent in larger products. Many products contain multiple patented inventions, and under current law judges have the right to decide the value of the particular part to the product. This legislation would implement a one-size-fits-all standard which would lead to cheaper infringement of patents where the larger provider would be able to steal the part they need and pay a small royalty to the inventor regardless of how important the part is to the final product.

I do believe that patent reform in necessary, but was unable to support H.R. 1908 because of the actual contribution clause. The House passed H.R. 1908 by a vote of 220-175
on September 7, 2007, but it was stalled in the Senate.

Another piece of legislation that did become public law was the Internet Tax Freedom Act Amendments Act of 2007 which was introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) in September of 2007. This legislation extended the moratorium on state and local taxation of Internet access and electronic commerce until November 1, 2014. It also includes an exemption from such moratorium for states that previously enacted Internet tax laws. I voted in favor of this bill, which was signed into law on October 31, 2007.

Lastly, the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008, introduced originally in the Senate by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in July 2008, was also signed into law. This legislation amended both civil and criminal intellectual property law. It also reformed the federal government’s structure for dealing with enforcement of foreign countries’ Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) obligations. It replaced the National Intellectual Property Law Enforcement Coordinating Council (NIPLECC) with the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC). The IPEC would now coordinate government agency IPR enforcement actions and have representatives from all agencies involved. I voted in favor of this legislation, which easily passed both chambers.

I hope that you find this information helpful. If you should have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me again. I remain


Very truly yours,



Steven C. LaTourette
Member of Congress