Andrei Iancu, partner in S&C’s Intellectual Property & Technology practice, testified on January 23 before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property at the hearing “The Patent Eligibility Restoration Act – Restoring Clarity, Certainty, and Predictability to the U.S. Patent System.” Andrei expressed the importance of enacting bipartisan reforms to modernize this section of the U.S. patent code, which was first drafted in the Patent Act of 1793.
Andrei stressed that 35 U.S.C. § 101 still reads, almost verbatim, as it was written 230 years ago, and that courts are struggling to apply an 18th century statute to 21st century technology. Andrei explained that legislation is needed to bring clarity to this area of law, which will increase certainty and spur the innovation economy.
Andrei is the former Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, a position to which he was confirmed unanimously by the Senate.
Read Andrei’s written testimony.