California Healthcare Institute, BayBio, Biocom and CONNECT Statement on Reintroduction of the Innovation Act
La Jolla, San Diego & South San Francisco, Calif. (PRWEB) February 06, 2015 -- CHI-California Healthcare Institute, BayBio, Biocom and CONNECT issued the following joint statement regarding the introduction of patent litigation reform legislation – H.R. 9, the Innovation Act – in the U.S. House of Representatives this week. This statement may be attributed to Sara Radcliffe, President & CEO, CHI; Gail Maderis, President & CEO, BayBio; Joe Panetta, President & CEO, Biocom; and Greg McKee, CEO, CONNECT.
“On behalf of California’s life sciences and innovative technology communities, we have serious concerns with the Innovation Act (H.R. 9), legislation to alter patent litigation processes and procedures. We represent sectors of our state's economy that consist largely of small, entrepreneurial, and venture capital-backed firms that often have patents as their most valuable – and sometimes only – asset. The ability of California’s research universities, institutes, and biomedical and technology companies to protect, and when necessary enforce, their patents is a top priority to ensure the continued growth and vitality of these innovative sectors of our state’s economy.”
“Unfortunately, the Innovation Act contains patent litigation-related provisions that would threaten the ability of innovators to protect their patents and fund continued R&D by inadvertently making it more difficult, time-consuming and expensive to enforce legitimate and important IP rights. H.R. 9 is identical to H.R. 3309 – legislation that passed the House in the 113th Congress – and therefore does not take into account many recent developments on the patent litigation landscape – such as the implementation of the America Invents Act, five recent U.S. Supreme Court cases, and key administrative changes at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The legislation introduced this week unfortunately will create additional patent-related uncertainty in the already high-risk life sciences and technology sectors.”
"Patent litigation legislation must appropriately and carefully balance the need to correct abusive 'patent troll' practices with the reliance of a full spectrum of industries and sectors on a well-functioning U.S. patent system and the enforcement mechanisms it provides. We respectfully oppose the Innovation Act in its current form, and look forward to working with the bill’s sponsors to improve the legislation so that it is more supportive of our state's life sciences innovation ecosystem.”
Click here to view the legislation.
About CHI-California Healthcare Institute
CHI represents more than 275 leading biotechnology, medical device, diagnostics and pharmaceutical companies, and public and private academic biomedical research organizations. CHI’s mission is to advance biomedical research, investment and innovation through effective advocacy of policies to improve public health and ensure continued vitality of the life sciences sector. CHI’s website is http://www.chi.org. Follow us on Twitter @calhealthcare, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.
About BayBio
BayBio brings together the collective strength and experience of the world’s most innovative and productive life science cluster, helping companies grow, connect and advocate to solve some of humanity’s most pressing challenges. BayBio provides comprehensive support and solutions tailored to the unique needs of nearly 1000 Bay Area life science companies and institutions, delivering tangible value through group purchasing savings, capital access, government affairs & advocacy, networking and best-practice sharing. BayBio also supports the future of bioscience innovation through the BayBio Institute’s work in science education, career development and entrepreneurship.
About Biocom
Biocom is one of the largest regional life science associations in the world, representing more than 600 member companies in Southern California. The association focuses on initiatives that position the region’s life science industry competitively on the world stage, and on the development and delivery of innovative products that improve health and quality of life. For more information on Biocom or the Southern California biotechnology and medical device community, please visit the organization’s Web site at http://www.biocom.org or call (858) 455-0300.
About CONNECT
CONNECT (http://www.connect.org) is a premier innovation company accelerator in San Diego that creates and scales great companies in the technology and life sciences sectors. By creating an environment in which entrepreneurs and C-suite executives have access to the people, capital, and technology resources they need for success, CONNECT has assisted in the formation and development of more than 3,000 companies since 1985. Widely regarded as one of the world’s most successful organizations linking entrepreneurs and C-suite executives with the resources they need for the commercialization of innovative products and services; our program has been modeled in more than 50 regions around the world. For further information, contact Claire E. Bula, Esq., Director of Marketing & Communications, at cbula(at)connect(dot)org or 858.964.1316.
Contact:
Will Zasadny
Manager – Communications; California Healthcare Institute
Zasadny(at)chi(dot)org
Phone: (619) 961-8848
Will Zasadny, Manager of Communications, CHI-California Healthcare Institute, http://www.chi.org, +1 619-961-8848, [email protected]
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