Congress is in the process of rewriting the United States' patent laws. Scientific and technological changes in virtually all markets have dramatically altered the patent system itself. Reacting to fears that patents and patent litigation could retard rather than support technological progress, legislators are poised to take action with the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (H. 1908, S. 1145). Proposed changes include the implementation of a first-to-file patent application process (where the filing date of a patent application, and not the date of invention, determines which of competing inventors will obtain a patent and when their rights begin), limitations on patent lawsuit damages, and the creation of an administrative patent review and mediation board.

The changes will have a profound impact on the nation's most creative and economically significant industries, from the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry to the software and information technology sector. At this half-day conference, AEI scholars Claude Barfield and Jack Calfee will present their analysis of the role of patents in the biotechnology industry: Biotechnology and the Patent System: Balancing Innovation and Property Rights (AEI Press, September 2007). The authors will discuss the importance of patents in the development of new biotechnology drugs and diagnostic tests, the recent economic and legal thinking on the dynamics of patent law, and the various proposals for reform. Following the authors' presentation, panelists will debate the provisions of the Patent Reform Act. Ted Frank, the director of the newly established AEI Legal Center for the Public Interest, will moderate.

For more information about the conference please contact Sara Wexler at the AEI Legal Center for the Public Interest via e-mail at sara.wexler@aei.org or 202.862. 5820. For media inquiries, please contact Veronique Rodman at vrodman@aei.org  or 202.862.4871.