HR3460

[Adonica A Sendelbach]

Although the following may not appear to have anything to do with Slavic,
please take a few minutes to read it.  Considering the fact that business
practices are spilling over into academia, we should consider how such a bill
might change the protection of an individual's research.

I recently learned on the radio that a bill is on the House floor called HR
3460 which will eliminate the U.S. Patent Office and replace it with an
independent organization.  According to Rep. Dana Rohrbacher (sp?) of
California, most reps are unaware of the details of the bill, so he is asking
constituents to contact their reps.

The bill calls for replacing the U.S. Patent Office with an independent
organization whose members would not fall under civil service protection. As I
understand it, this protection prevents the firing of such members and also
protects them from pressure from outside interests.  With the independent
organization, there are fears that certain groups or businesses might be able
to govern the organization's practices.  The bill is heavily supported by
foreign businesses, as the U.S. laws protecting inventor's rights are much more
stringent than those of other countries--so I am told.  According to the bill,
the information an individual provides when applying for a patent would be
published 18 months after the application has been submitted whether or not the
individual has received a patent by then.  Therefore, his or her information
becomes public knowledge possibly without the protection of a patent.

If anyone has any corrections/additions to the above, I would greatly
appreciate such information as my only source has been a local radio station.

Thank you for your time,
Donnie Sendelbach