McKool Smith principal Nick Matich commented in the Intellectual Property Magazine’s article “Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy to Retire.” The Vermont Democrat Senator and attorney Patrick Leahy has announced he will not run for the US Senate re-election after serving eight terms. Nick commented, “The America Invents Act that bears [Senator Leahy] name was the most significant change in patent law in the last seventy years. It achieved some important and widely-praised goals, like establishing USPTO’s fee setting authority and moving to a first-to-file system. But, the expansion of the executive branch’s authority over patent litigation, through the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, was likely the biggest and most controversial change Senator Leahy’s legislation made. The debates on how the PTAB can best help achieve a balanced patent system are unlikely to stop any time soon, as the Senator’s own recently introduced bill to revamp the PTAB demonstrates.” Read the article here.
