Why are John Conyers and Lamar Smith, Patrick Leahy and Orrin Hatch teaming up in support of the Patent Reform Bill? The bill will kill innovation, cost American jobs, rob inventors of their ideas and give the Chinese carte blanche to legally take what they have been roundly stealing. It will put America at risk not only economically, but also from potential theft of weapons systems, chemical formulas and defense technologies that have so far kept us safe.
Why would Republicans and Democrats alike rally around a bill detrimental to America? If Republicans are the purported defenders of Constitutional integrity and Democrats the alleged party of the common man, why would they jointly promote legislation in opposition to the Constitution that takes from the “poor” and hands to the “rich?” Why are leaders of both parties working at cross-purposes on this devastating Patent Reform Bill?
There IS a problem in the U.S. Patent system. It currently takes an average of four years for a patent to be approved. The patent office is understaffed with thousands of patents backlogged. By the time they see daylight, many inventions are obsolete…their moment of opportunity lost.
But should the entire-unique-to-the-world American patent system, “first to invent” not “first to file,” codified in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution by the Founding Fathers before they ever wrote in rights to free religious expression or press, be disregarded and “harmonized” to that of Europe to accomplish that? The answer is emphatically “no!”
Every member of Congress should be concerned that passage of HR 1249 will allow large global corporations like G.E. and Microsoft (major backers of 1249) to dominate the U.S. patent process as never before, freezing out thousands of small inventors from a process that has made the U.S. the leader in innovation for the past 200 years.
General Electric has already signed agreements making available to the Red Chinese important patent and trade secret information, which they possess. Microsoft is now building a new invention/technology complex in China. And China is demanding this intellectual property information from U.S. corporations as a condition of trade.
Eager to do business with China, these corporations along with others are based in congressional districts and states where Senators and Congressmen on both sides of the aisle… who happen to represent those districts… just happen to have been persuaded to support the bill.
Ordinary citizens are reeling from the loss of jobs and industry. But wonderful ideas still germinate in the fertile soil of American Freedom. No other country can boast or compete with that. But they can steal it. And if the new Patent Reform Bill is passed with our unique “first to invent” system replaced with the failed European model, it will reward only global businesses and the politicians who do their bidding.
America must stop this bill. Now. While the rest of us were worrying about losing jobs and savings, with the support of Democrats and Republicans alike, this job-killing monolith soared through the Senate 95-5, then passed the House Judiciary Committee with only three Republicans dissenting.
When China began opening up to Capitalism, the Chicago Tribune did a fascinating article on a wealthy Chinese businessman who had come to the U.S. to learn how ethics played a role in American business practices. The Chinese system was not functioning well because of the lack of trust or honesty. He felt strongly that America stood in contrast…at least historically… having woven in its early years a deep commitment to high standards of conduct from Judeo-Christian values.
In his book, “Age of Delirium: The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Union,” Russian expert David Satter observed the same thing. Satter wrote that capitalism in the former Soviet Union without values created chaos and provided economic rewards only for those who sought wealth without regard to the effect on their countrymen.
Post-Modern America likes to think it has outgrown the strong principles of the past, but it has not. Selfish gain without regard for the good of the whole is a certain way to destroy a country. The oligarchs stripped Russia of its natural resources. Politicians and businessmen alike joined in that endeavor and it wasn’t until former KGB leader Putin marched in eradicating freedoms that they were stopped. Freedom can’t exist in a vacuum and neither can Capitalism.
We are right to support “big business.” They are one of the crown jewels of America. They provide jobs, billions of tax dollars to support the economy, and charitable contributions that enrich us all. But they are not always right. And when they step over the line, they must be stopped. It is the job of Congress to guard and protect the American people…not do the bidding of major corporations.
Republicans and Democrats SHOULD be bedfellows on HB 1249. They should roll over together to defeat it. And as we pull back the covers on this very un-American, unconstitutional bill, we hope they will!