(1888PressRelease)
March 05, 2009 - Washington, DC – The Business Software Alliance (BSA), the voice of the world’s leading computer software and hardware companies, today welcomed the introduction of patent reform legislation by senior leaders in the US House and Senate and said its passage would help revive the US and global economy.
“We applaud Chairman Leahy, Chairman Conyers, Senator Hatch, Congressman Smith, and their cosponsors for their continuing leadership of efforts to modernize our patent system,” said Robert Holleyman, President and CEO of BSA. “The Patent Reform Act of 2009 will strengthen American innovation, improve America’s global competitiveness, and create more high-tech jobs in America.”
Holleyman added: “Patent reform is a perfect example of how common-sense, bipartisan solutions can bring about a stronger economy,” Holleyman said. “Of course, we recognize that more work lies ahead, but we are encouraged by the high degree of consensus on most reform items and by the bipartisan, high-level commitment to get the job done.”
The legislation addresses three critical areas in need of modernization:
Improving patent quality;
Harmonizing the US system with those of other major patent-granting nations; and
Reforming abuses in how patents are used and enforced by the courts.
Additional details are available on www.bsa.org and www.patentfairness.org.
EDITOR’S NOTE
BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman and BSA Counselor Emery Simon are highly regarded experts on intellectual property and are available for interviews on this topic.
The Business Software Alliance (BSA) has long been a leading advocate of US patent system modernization. BSA submitted influential legal briefs to the US Supreme Court in a variety of landmark patent cases, including eBay v. Merc Exchange, Microsoft v. ATT, and KSR v. Teleflex, and it brought member company CEOs and other executives and allies to Washington, DC for several rounds of meetings with senior policymakers. Most recently, BSA Counselor Emery Simon participated in a high-level policy dialogue that led to a Center for American Progress report entitled, “Enabling Economic Recovery through Innovation.”
About BSA:
The Business Software Alliance (www.bsa.org) is the voice of the world's commercial software industry and its hardware partners before governments and in the international marketplace. BSA members include Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, Bentley Systems, CA, Cisco Systems, CNC Software/Mastercam, Corel, CyberLink, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation, Dell, Embarcadero, HP, IBM, Intel, Intuit, McAfee, Microsoft, Minitab, PTC, Quark, Quest Software, Rosetta Stone, SAP, Siemens, Sybase, Symantec, Synopsys, and The MathWorks.
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