INVENTIVE STEP

As a follow-up to the post on Sen. Gregg’s nomination as Commerce Secretary, BNA is now reporting (subscription service) that several IP groups have come out in favor of the nomination.

Herbert Wamsley, executive director of the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO), praised Sen. Gregg’s experience in the Senate and House of Representatives on IP issues.  He also noted that Sen. Gregg has a good understanding of the Commerce Department and the PTO.  IPO is a trade association for owners of intellectual property and generally takes a strong IP protection stance on issues.

The Coalition for 21st Century Patent Reform issued a press release on Feb. 3 praising Sen. Gregg’s work in the Senate and his familiarity with the PTO and improvements needed to strengthen the nation’s patent system.  The Coalition is a group of 50 companies that favor patent reform that places limitations on the power of patents.

Mark Esper, executive vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Intellectual Property Center, also praised the nomination in a Feb. 3 blog post on the Center’s website.  Esper noted that Sen. Gregg has supported pro-IP policies and legislation.  In particular, he was a co-sponsor of the PRO-IP Act that was enacted in late 2008.  The Act created the Office of the United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative and increased civil and criminal penalties for copyright and trademark infringement.

The fact that parties on both sides of the patent reform issue are applauding the nomination says one of two things:  either Sen. Gregg is a great pick by Pres. Obama or he will be simply more of the same.  I think the nomination for PTO director will be significantly more important to the patent world.

Multiple news sources have confirmed that Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) will be Pres. Obama’s nominee to head up the Commerce Department.  As Secretary of Commerce, Sen. Gregg would oversee the PTO.

The third-term senator does not have a large amount of experience or background in dealing with patent or intellectual property issues.  Gene Quinn of IP Watchdog notes one particular incident where Sen. Gregg was involved in legislation involving one particular patent.  In 2000, Sen. Gregg inserted a provision into an agricultural finance bill that that would have extended the term of a patent owned by Columbia University that was set to expire that year.  Sen. Gregg just happens to be an alumnus of Columbia.  The legislation was not passed, but had it done so, it would have netted Columbia about $150 million in licensing revenue.

This seems like a fairly controversial matter from a patent point of view, but as Quinn notes:

If failure to pay federal income taxes does not disqualify a nominee from serving in the President’s Cabinet I doubt this issue will present any problems for Gregg, although it certainly deserves to be an interesting footnote in his political career.

A good thing about the nomination is that once the Secretary of Commerce is confirmed, a new PTO Director can then be named.